Here With Me
by azurelegance
Summary: Sasusaku, Some SaixOC and semi ShikaIno. Sakura is trying to get over her favorite coldhearted Uchiha, but what happens when he finally returns to Konoha? ::complete::
1. Reliving the past

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto!

This takes place during the current Naruto manga chapter. This is my first fanfic, I hope you enjoy it!

Konoha was quiet, it was midnight and Sakura was on her bed.

Sakura looked out the window sighing thinking about a certain someone. She then pulled out her picture of team seven staring at him… Looking into his eyes, she showed overwhelming emotion, and suddenly she felt warm tears well up in her eyes. "_No," she thought to herself, "I won't cry over him, not after all of these years… I don't love him anymore!" _ Who was she kidding, she knew that she still loved him, even after all the things he did to her. Sakura then leant back and closed her eyes, drifting into a deep slumber.

(Four months later)

Sakura, Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato all met up at the old team seven training grounds. It was just after Konoha defeated Atasuki (the only remaining members were Itachi and Kisame), and Naruto and the others were getting ready to go after Sasuke again.

Naruto had completed his original jutsu and was ready to face Sasuke.

"Kakashi, when are we going to get Sasuke? We only have one month left, and im getting impatient!" Naruto whined.

All of them sweat dropped anime style.

"We know, Naruto, but we have to get permission from the hokage first," Kakashi replied.

"Yeah Naruto, Tsunade-sama knows the perfect time to strike, so you'll just have to deal with it for a while," Sakura calmly stated.

Naruto crossed his arms like a kid and mumbled under his breath.

"Alright then, let's get started!" Sai said while smiling his fake smile.

But as soon as he said that they heard a crowing noise, they looked up and saw the trademark crow. Then Naruto said with a grin, "It's time."

DUN DUN DUN! What's time? Well those who watch Naruto should know! If people like the story, review and tell me so!


	2. the mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (sigh I wish I did)

It think I overused the word "then" in the other chapter, this time I'll try not to.

Recap

"_Kakashi, when are we going to get Sasuke? We only have one month left, and im getting impatient!" Naruto whined._

_All of them sweat dropped anime style._

"_We know, Naruto, but we have to get permission from the hokage first," Kakashi replied._

"_Yeah Naruto, Tsunade-sama knows the perfect time to strike, so you'll just have to deal with it for a while," Sakura calmly stated._

_Naruto crossed his arms like a kid and mumbled under his breath._

"_Alright then, let's get started!" Sai said while smiling his fake smile._

_But as soon as he said that they heard a crowing noise, they looked up and saw the trademark crow. Then Naruto said with a grin, "It's time"_

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto and the others have arrived," Shizune alerted.

"Okay send them I-…"

"BOOM"

Before Tsunade could finish, Naruto came barging in "BAA-CHAN! DID YOU CALL TO GIVE US THE MISSION OF TAKING SASUKE-TEME BACK?" Naruto hopefully screamed.

Tsunade unplugged her ears and screamed, "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME DEAF!"

"Anyways," Tsunade cleared her throat, " I in fact do have a mission for you, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato you are assigned to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru, may I remind you it's defiantly you final chance."

"_Sasuke-kun," thought Sakura._

"_Heh, heh Sasuke-teme, I'll be able to get you now, with my new original jutsu!" Thought the grinning Naruto._

"_(Chuckle) those two sure look excited, well at least Naruto does" thought Kakashi._

Kakashi looked over at Sakura, who looked kind of glum.

* * *

_Sakura POV._

"_Sasuke-kun…"_

_(Flash back)_

_Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai, looked up with passion. While Sasuke looked down in serenity._

"_Sasuke-kun...," thought Sakura._

_In the blink of an eye, Sasuke was in front of Naruto. Sakura was still dazed from finally seeing Sasuke after two and a half years to notice that Sasuke was drawing his blade. She finally snapped back into reality when he used chidori-nagashi._

"_Chidori, coming from his entire body!…" Thought Sakura._

_Sakura looked around to see all of her teammates on the floor._

_"NO! Naruto, Yamato, Sai!" Thought Sakura, "I have to help!"_

_"Sasuke-kun, I'm going to stop you with my own power!" Sakura informed._

_At first, Sasuke was surprised, but then he understood, she's not going down without a fight. Sakura came charging at Sasuke when suddenly she saw Yamato in front of her. _

_"Oh no, Yamato!" said Sakura._

_(End flash back)_

"… and you will all be leaving in tomorrow, so I suggest you get out of my office and pack," Tsunade finished.

* * *

_(later)_

The temporary team seven were at Ichiraku, eating ramen of course. Naruto was inhaling his ramen as usual while Sai and Yamato was watching, amazed, but of course Sakura and Kakashi was used to it.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto mumbled, "Why did you suddenly blank out at baa-Chan's tower?"

"O-oh it's n-nothing really..." Sakura lied, but Naruto being his usual gullible self, believed it. (HAHA! BELIEVE IT! Ok, ok on with the story…)

* * *

(Later)

Sakura was walking down the memorable road, yes the road were she had told Sasuke she loved him.

"Sakura," said a cool, calm, smooth voice. Sakura turned around to see Kakashi.

"Oh, hi Kakashi-sensei, what's up?" Sakura asked.

"Well I woke up this morning, then I went to go brush my teeth, and then I…" Sakura sweat dropped. When Kakashi finished, he said.

"Enough about me, now what's up with you being so depressed lately, that's not like you..."

"Well…"

"It's about Sasuke, isn't it?"

"… yeah… it's just that I tried so hard to get over him but... it just didn't happen…"

"Well do you love him?"

That was kind of a weird question for a teacher to ask a student.

"…….. Yes (sigh) … I do…"

"Well, then don't give up, you know Sakura? Sasuke doesn't hate you as much as you think... Perhaps he maybe feels the same way without knowing it himself."

"_That couldn't be" thought Sakura._

"You got it all wrong, Sasuke doesn-……."

"Well you never know…, anyways, I think im going to go read some more icha icha tactics, see ya!" Kakashi interrupted.

"POOF"

"_What did he mean by that?" thought Sakura._

Sakura headed home to get ready for her adventure tomorrow,

"_I have a weird feeling that this time, everything will be revealed…"Thought Sakura._

* * *

How was it? Bad, good, ok for an amateur? Review and tell me so! 


	3. Leaving

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...

Thanks for those who reviewed, you all made me feel better about being a new writer. Just so everyone knows I don't usually update on weekends!

(p.s. I'm a girl… lol!)

* * *

(_Recap)_

(Later)

_Sakura was walking down the memorable road, yes the road were she had told Sasuke she loved him._

"_Sakura," said a cool, calm, smooth voice. Sakura turned around to see Kakashi._

"_Oh, hi Kakashi-sensei, what's up?" Sakura asked._

"_Well I woke up this morning, then I went to go brush my teeth, and then I…" Sakura sweat dropped. When Kakashi finished, he said._

"_Enough about me, now what's up with you being so depressed lately, that's not like you..."_

"_Well…"_

"_It's about Sasuke, isn't it?"_

"… _yeah… it's just that I tried so hard to get over him but... it just didn't happen…"_

"_Well do you love him?"_

_That was kind of a weird question for a teacher to ask a student._

"……_.. Yes (sigh) … I do…"_

"_Well, then don't give up, you know Sakura? Sasuke doesn't hate you as much as you think... Perhaps he maybe feels the same way without knowing it himself."_

"_That couldn't be" thought Sakura._

"_You got it all wrong, Sasuke doesn-……."_

"_Well you never know…, anyways, I think I'm going to go read some more icha icha tactics, see ya!" Kakashi interrupted._

"_POOF"_

"_What did he mean by that?" thought Sakura._

_Sakura headed home to get ready for her adventure tomorrow,_

"_I have a weird feeling that this time, everything will be revealed…"Thought Sakura._

_(End Recap)_

* * *

Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Yamato, and Kakashi was at Konoha's gates. Tsunade, the hokage, walked up to them.

"Good luck everyone, I'll be waiting here to greet Sasuke!" Tsunade stated.

Naruto and Sakura smiled.

"Ok! Let's get moving!

"Hai!" Sakura agreed.

Everyone leaped into the woods, swiftly jumping branch to branch.

"Sasuke-teme, here I come..."

(Nightfall)

"Ok let's stop and camp, it's getting dark," Kakashi insisted.

"But Kakashi-sensei…"

"No need to argue Naruto,"Sai said, "there's no point in trying to get there without resting, we need our rest."

"Ok then, Sakura and Sai get the firewood, Yamato forage for a quantity of food, Naruto and I will set up camp."

Sakura and Sai were alone but could hear Naruto's voice in the distance.

"Hey Sai, do you have enough now?"

"Yes…hag,"

"SHANNARO!"

"BAM"

"Sai… why do you always call me a hag? Sakura asked.

"… _And call Ino Ms. Gorgeous…" Inner Sakura added._

"Well, you're supposed to say the opposite of what you think to women…or so I read in that book…"

"_Haha! Than that means that he thinks I'm beautiful and…INO is the HAG! MUHAHAHAHA!" Inner Sakura celebrated._

* * *

Sakura and Sai returned to camp, and then Naruto asked,

"Why are you all bloody, Sai? Wait…, I get it!"

"_Wow there's a shocker…"Inner Sakura said while smiling a crooked smile._

* * *

"Well I better get to bed, goodnight everyone," Sakura said while yawning.

"Goodnight!" Everyone said in unison.

Sakura went to her tent, and fell asleep.

* * *

(the next day)

"Ok, let's go!" Naruto excitly exclaimed.

As everyone was jumping tree to tree they saw a village up ahead. Sakura, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato looked around.

"_Hmm, I don't hear any voice, that's quite strange," thought Kakashi_.

"Yamato, Sai you two head west and look for villagers, Naruto, Sakura come with me."

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi were walking through the village.

"It's like a ghost town, this place gives me the creeps!" shivered Sakura.

Kakashi, who was in front of them, suddenly stopped. Naruto and Sakura bumped into him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, why did you stop?"

"Look for yourself."

Naruto and Sakura peeked from behind Kakashi, they couldn't believe what they saw.

"There has to be at least a thousand of them…" Naruto twitched.

There in front of them laid dead villagers, all of them wore the same face expression, eyes open wide and pure fear. There was blood scattered everywhere.

"Click, click, click, BOOM!"

Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura moved before whatever-it-was got them. Sakura lookd up and saw a ninja wearing a sound headband. She looked a little closer and saw that he was a puppet user.

Sakura charged forward using her chakra filled punch.

"BOOM"

She had missed and instead hit the wall.

"Grr…" Naruto growled.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" (Did I spell that correctly?)

Ten Narutos appeared and charged towards the puppet user. All of the sudden the puppet headed towards Naruto.

"Click, click, click"

But before the puppet could hit the Narutos, Sakura came out of nowhere and smashed the puppets into bits.

"_Heh, heh, just like Sasori," thought Sakura_.

Naruto hit his target and used his infamous Naruto Uzumaki combo.

The enemy laid on the floor.

Naruto grabbed him by his collar and asked, "who are you and did you kill those innocent villagers?"

"(Cough. Cough) heh, heh, well if you want to know so badly, the name's Takeshi," he weakly smirked, "And no, I didn't kill the pathetic weaklings, someone else did that."

"Who did?" Naruto angrily screamed.

"Doesn't matter…" Takeshi answered.

"I'm sorry I failed, Orochimaru-sama…"

Naruto looked at him and know what he'd meant.

"He's covered in explosives! Let's move!"

"BOOM!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi moved just in time. Kakashi walked up to the villagers examining them up close.

"Hmm," Kakashi squinted, "t-there's no way!"

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"T-this was done by the Mangekyo Sharingan!"

* * *

How did you like it? Anyways will people review and tell me what I should name the village where Orochimaru's hideout is? Thanks! 


	4. the hideout

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

-Thanks for the suggestions it really helped me! Sorry it took such a long time to update, I was editing my story to make it a little bit better, and feel free to give me suggestions on making my story better!

* * *

"…So Itachi…was here?" Asked Sakura.

"He's the only one who possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan…"

(By the way, it couldn't have been Sasuke because Naruto was his closest friend, and in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan you must kill your closest friend (Naruto is still alive))

Sai and Yamato came running towards Kakashi when they noticed what Kakashi was looking at.

"Woah… w-what happened?"

"Long story short, Itachi was here.

"You mean the man who massacred the Uchiha clan?"

"Yeah…"

"_That person… the one who made Sasuke-kun suffer… our worst enemy!" thought Sakura._

"We have no time to lose so let's get going,"

* * *

"So this is it, the land of sound,"

The skies were gray, overflowing with sadness and lost hope, around them were tall, sharp hills, it looked as if it was staring down on them.

"Now we have to locate the base, we'll split up and if you find anything suspicious let us know in about ten minutes,"

"Alright, split up!"

Sakura POV

"Geez, Orochimaru sure does like dark, creepy places…"

Sakura walked up to the side of the hill, she looked a little closer and saw something odd.

"I wonder why this part of the hill is bare while the rest has grass on it…"

"Only one way to find out…"

"BOOM"

In front of Sakura was a pathway leading into the hill.

"I got to go tell Kakashi this,"

End Sakura POV

* * *

"Did anyone see anything?"

"Sorry"

"Nope"

"Nothing"

Sakura made her appearance and before Kakashi could ask, she said, "I did."

"It was on the side of the hills, it was a cave! Follow me,"

When everyone arrived at the cave, they were heading in when they heard a faint noise, talking of some sort.

"…what was that?" Sakura whispered.

"I don't know, let's find out."

Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato run up and found 3 passage ways.

"Ok let's split up into 3 groups, Sai and Yamato go left, Sakura and Naruto go right, and I'll go by myself through the center,"

Everyone parted ways; all feeling like something was bound to happen.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura POV

"_Heh-heh, I'm alone with Sakura-Chan, I have to thank Kakashi-sensei later. Wait, I'm supposed to be focused on finding Sasuke!… yeah right Naruto like you can focus..." Naruto argued with himself._

Sakura looked at Naruto and thought, "I know Naruto got stronger, but is it enough to defeat Orochimaru and Sasuke-Kun?"

It seemed like the tunnel went on forever until finally Naruto saw a light up ahead.

"Sakura, look!"

Sakura turned her attention to the light. Soon enough, Naruto and Sakura sprinted towards the light, and they found themselves in a room. The room felt damp and the walls were as slimy as Orochimaru himself. In the middle of the room there was a table that had a lot of shurikens and kunai on it. Sakura was trailing her fingers on the wall when she felt a door knob, no two…, no three!

"Naruto, look at this!

"Open them!" Naruto said excitedly but cautious at the same time.

Sakura opened the far left first. It was a closet; it had nothing in it but a strange blue cloth. Next came the center door, it was a bathroom that had a shower, a toilet, and a sink, nothing special. She opened the last door and saw that it was another room, a bedroom. In it had a bed (nothing special) but the thing that caught Sakura's eye was not the bed, but the bedside table. Naruto and Sakura stepped in and started to examine the room. Sakura went straight towards the table and saw that there was a picture frame on the table. Sakura picked up the picture and looked at it, but it was strange, it had no picture in it. Sakura was about to put it down when she saw something strange. "_Why did the picture frame have a piece of a photo on the bottom?"_ She tore out the supposedly "back of the picture frame" and saw the real picture. Sakura couldn't believe her eyes.

* * *

"You know that _they_ are here, don't you?"

"Only a fool wouldn't be able to notice it…"

"(Chuckles) so… what are you going to do about it?"

"…"

"Those fools from Konoha are quite amusing, just watching them squirm makes me laugh,"

"…"

"Those Konoha weaklings will die this time in both of our hands… right, _Sasuke-kun?_"

* * *

"It can't be!"

The picture was the famous picture of team seven. (Lol Sasuke really did keep it!)

"So that means… this is Sasuke-kun's room…!"

* * *


	5. Him

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto!

Wow this chapter was difficult to write, it's a go-with-the-flow kind of chapter so bear with me!

* * *

"So that means… this is Sasuke-kun's room!"

"BOOM!"

"What was that?" Sakura whispered.

"Let's go! What if someone got caught!?" Naruto cried.

* * *

**Sai and Yamato POV**

Sai and Yamato were walking down the dark hallways, on guard, when they noticed that a dark figure in the distance.

"Who is that?" Sai questioned silently.

Sai and Yamato silently, but swiftly sped up to see who it was, Sai was about to confirm his identity until he heard clicking.

"click, Click, CLICK."

Sai and Yamato couldn't believe it; they fell for a genjutsu trap! All around Yamato and Sai was a beautiful field of flowers, vivid in colors and looked as innocent as newborns. All of the sudden the flowers turned into black skulls with blood-red beaming eyes. They skulls got bigger and bigger almost big enough to swallow Sai and Yamato whole! Decomposed bones rose from the earth, smelling like death itself. The bones became bendable and started to wrap themselves around Sai and Yamato. They struggled to cancel the jutsu, but it was no use. Finally, after twenty minutes, Sai and Yamato canceled the jutsu and came back to reality; they confirmed the genjutsu user was none other than Kabuto. (I know he doesn't use genjutsu, lets just say he learned in the three years that passed by.) Sai fell to the floor; he couldn't understand why he was so weak.

"Oh by the way, those bones did something to your body when you were trapped… actually I did it." Kabuto smirked.

"So you knew we were here all along?" Yamato said frustrated.

"(Chuckle) Of course! You guys are so predictable so unshinobi like…" Kabuto hissed.

"No more chit-chat let's go!" Kabuto turned serious.

Kabuto came charging at Yamato, since Sai was already weak, Yamato was ready for him but as soon as Kabuto came close, he jumped over them.

"What the? Why did he just run? What's he planning?" Yamato said talking like a billion miles per hour.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

Four explosive tags blew up. Yamato was injured, not severely, and Sai managed to block the explosions. But both of them blacked out.

…

…

…

…

…

"Sai! Yamato! What happened here? Sakura said worriedly.

Sai and Yamato woke up.

" That Kabuto…put explosive tags all over…" Yamato grunted.

"Here…let me treat you," Sakura said with a glowing, green hand.

"Hey, do you see what I see?" Naruto questioned, "That wall… that got blown up… has an entrance."

"Let's get going then!"

* * *

**Kakashi POV**

"_Hmm…why is it so quiet?" Kakashi thought._

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"What was that!?" Kakashi said turning around, " I better go and find Naruto and Sakura and see if…."

"Tisk, Tisk, Tisk my, my the old lighting Kakashi has turned soft…I wouldn't be so worried about the fox demon and the beautiful brat if I were you…" said a voice from behind Kakashi so slimy that it made Kakashi want to throw up.

Kakashi turned around and spat, "Long time no see… _Orochimaru_."

* * *

**Sai, Sakura, Yamato, and Naruto POV**

Naruto was thinking about Sasuke… This made him quite mad for some reason.

"_Sasuke-teme!!!"_

Naruto could fell his red chakra rising, and his whiskers darkening. His eyes became red and bloodshot. But why was he so mad at Sasuke all of the sudden? Who knows.

"hehe, what took you guys so long?" Said a voice out of nowhere.

"Hah, don't get cocky Kabuto, I …" Yamato was cut off.

"HE'S MINE!" Shouted Naruto.

"…Naruto?" Sakura was shocked. Everyone then noticed his face, the face of a demon.

"Sai! Sakura! You guys go now! Only I can tame Naruto, now go!" Yamato Spazzed.

Sakura and Sai ran down the hallway. There was a room in the end of the hallway! A big one in fact! Sakura and Sai entered the room, Sai sat down due to exhaustion.

"Sai… you look weak, let me examine you," Sakura said.

"It's alright, Sakura, I'm fine, really!" Sai faked a smile.

Sakura gave him a death glare.

"Ok! OK here!" Sai said scared.

Sai took off his shirt and Sakura bent over.

"Oh my gosh Sai! You're poisoned! Let me get that out!" Sakura said clearly shocked.

"Damnit… So that's what Kabuto was talking about.

Sai laid down and Sakura did her famous poison extraction jutsu.

…

"There! You're all good now!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"…_is that Sakura?"_

All of the sudden a figure came out of the darkness.

"So how have you been, _Sakura_?"

Sakura stared at him in awe.

"Sasuke…-kun…"

* * *

Oh my goshh that was so difficult! Hope it isn't too bad…

LOL! Sasuke and Sakura met face to face after months… this should be interesting :)


	6. CountDown

**Disclaimer: don't own Naruto ppl!**

**Chap Six**

* * *

* * *

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said wide eyed, "…is that you?"

"Hn…" Sasuke managed to mutter, "I assume you're here to take me back… your wasting your time."

Sasuke averted his eyes off of Sakura and glared at Sai.

"_What was Sakura doing with this guy? Was she flirting with him?"_ Sasuke thought.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said, "If you want to take me back…you'll have to fight me first", while looking directly at Sai.

"I accept your…" Sai was interrupted.

"No…, I'll do it, you're too weak from the poison to be fighting anytime soon, you'll have to rest," Sakura said in a serious tone.

Sasuke looked towards Sakura, in his head he didn't want to hurt her, but his outer shell didn't even flinch.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun! Don't underestimate me just yet!"

* * *

Naruto and Yamato POV

Yamato used his "Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu" on Naruto. Naruto was knocked out cold.

"Kabuto, now it's just you and me, no distractions," Yamato said while getting into his stance.

"Very well," Kabuto smirked.

Kabuto charged at Yamato. Kabuto had green, glowing hands ready to use his Shosen jutsu. Kabuto striked Yamato several times, but Yamato evaded the attacks. Yamato used his Moko bunshin no jutsu in attempt to try and confuse Kabuto.

"Ha! I'm better than that!" Kabuto mocked.

* * *

Orochimaru and Kakashi POV

"Kakashi…, you don't really believe that the fox demon child could actually become great…right? Atatsuki is going to find him sooner or later so why don't you just _give up?"_

Kakashi shivered.

"Haha…look what happened to _Asuma _when he tried to defend that wretched child!"

"How do you know about that?" Kakashi angrily questioned.

"I guess you can say I have my _sources_," Orochimaru said smoothly.

"Ugh…" Kakashi groaned in digust

"We're not getting any younger, (cough) especially (cough) you," Kakashi murmured, "So let's go!"

* * *

Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai POV

Sakura and Sasuke stared into each other's eyes, both eyes a blaze with immense determination. Finally, after which seemed like forever, they clashed. Sakura sent rapid kicks forward to Sasuke, but Sasuke just seemed to block out every attack.

"_Ha! He's still underestimating me…" Sakura thought._

Sakura pushed all of her chakra into her arm, and was about to throw the hardest punch ever. Sasuke quickly noticed Sakura smirking, but he didn't understand why she was. Sasuke flipped on his sharingan and then he saw Sakura's chakra. Too late, Sakura was coming at him so fast, he couldn't react.

"POW!"

"Thump, thump, thump" (poor Sasuke lol)

Sasuke was tumbling backwards like there was no tomorrow.

Sakura stared at Sasuke, feeling guilty for making him bleed. Sasuke got up slowly thinking, "Damn, when did she get this strong? Maybe I shouldn't underestimate her…"

"That's right Sasuke-kun, don't underestimate me! Take me on as a real opponent!" Sakura said as if she had read Sasuke's mind.

Sasuke suddenly looked serious, he drew his blade out and said, "hn, I see you have grown…well… So have I!"

Sasuke charged towards Sakura. Sakura jumped high in the air, coming back down with a fist.

"BOOM"

She made the whole hideout rumble. When Sasuke saw this he admitted that he was completely amazed at Sakura's strength. Luckily, Sasuke dodged the attack.

"CHIDORI NAGASHI!" shouted Sasuke as he charged towards Sakura. She tried to move, but it was in vain, she had been hit.

"Urghh…" Sakura coughed.

Sakura was just in time, moving at the last minute. It didn't seem to hit her vital organs but it did paralyze her for a bit. Sakura was finally able to move so she jumped back and slightly healed her wound. During this, Sasuke was looking at her surprised.

"Hnn… looks like you don't only have the strength but also medical jutsu? Ha, I'm quite impressed…"

"Heh…" Sakura said smirking.

* * *

Naruto POV

Naruto woke up and thought, _"Where am I?"_

He looked up to see Kabuto and Yamato going head to head. Naruto got up quickly thinking" Sakura-chan!" He jolted out of the hallway and into the darkness. Yamato and Kabuto didn't even seem to notice him…

* * *

Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai POV

"Sakura…" thought Sai as he watched their gruesome battle. Sasuke charged at her with another Chidori Nagashi. Unfortunately, Sakura couldn't move well from the last hit he had given her. Everything slowed down in Sakura's mind.

"_Oh no…is this the end? I can't take another hit. Have to dodge! Oh no! I can't move at all! … It can't end like this; I still have to bring Sasuke-kun back!"_ Sakura thought.

Just as Sai was about to step in, he saw a yellow blur appear in front of Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura's eyes widened, it was none other than the number one, hyperactive ninja himself.

"N-naruto!" Sakura said in surprise.

"Heehee… am I late?" Naruto said with a huge grin.

Sasuke was amazed that the chidori was slow enough for naruto to see and to jump in-between the attack. Lucky for Naruto, the chidori missed and only hit his arm instead.

Naruto turned around and looked towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke-teme, I wanna fight you now!" Naruto said seriously.

* * *

Orochimaru and Kakashi POV

"Orochimaru… Let's go!" Kakashi charged at Orochimaru. Orochimaru dodged and disappeared behind Kakashi.

"Sorry about this, Kakashi, perhaps I'll have time later into the future… in your former student's body! (Does an evil laugh)"

In that, Orochimaru disappeared into a puff of smoke.

* * *

Sasuke, Sakura, Sai, and Naruto's POV.

Sakura collapsed from her blood loss. Naruto set her down by Sai, as Sakura began healing herself.

"Ok Sasuke, this is it! One on one!" Naruto said determined.

"Hn" Said the stoic ninja, he too wanted to test his strength against his former teammate.

"POOF"

Sasuke turned around to see Orochimaru and Kabuto, Kabuto looked all scratched up while Orochimaru looked completely unharmed.

"Let's go Sasuke! It's finally time!"

Sasuke jumped back and they disappeared in a blink of an eye.\

"NO! Not again!" Sakura and Naruto said in unison.

All of the sudden, Kakashi and Yamato ran into the room.

"They're still in the hideout! They're going to transfer Orochimaru's body with Sasuke! We have to find them!"

"Wait… It's too soon for Orochimaru to transfer... isn't it?" Sakura asked.

"Ha! Yeah by like five minutes! Let's go!" Yamato commanded.

With that command, all of the teammates set off to find Sasuke before if was too late!

* * *

Will they find Sasuke in time? Will Orochimaru transfer bodies before they could find him? What will happen? You'll find out in the next chapter of! Here With Me


	7. Goodbye Snake!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**SORRY** about the late update, my internet privileges got taken away ;. Hehe… I'm not supposed to be online right now but ill update as soon as I can! Btw, Thank you everyone who reviewed, you guys are amazing!

* * *

Chapter 7

Goodbye…**Snake!**

"Ok, are you ready Sasuke-kun?" Kabuto smirked.

"Hn…" Sasuke said kind of sadly.

"HaHA! Nothing can stop me now!" Orochimaru laughed with glee.

"Naruto! This way!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato raced through the dark hallways, desperately searching for Sasuke.

"Ok, just hold still Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said as he was positioning himself. (That sounds awkward OO)

"There's only one other place they could be… and that is Sasuke-kun's room!" Sakura said.

Too late…

Orochimaru already started the process.

"SASUKE!" Everyone shouted dramatically as they entered the room.

"HA! Too late now!" Kabuto laughed uncontrollably.

"No...Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried.

Out of nowhere, Orochimaru's body turned black, while Sasuke's body fell towards the ground.

"W-what's going on here!?" Orochimaru shouted nervously.

Orochimaru's body began to dry up, eventually crumbling to pieces.

"NOOOO!" Orochimaru shrieked.

……..

……..

……..

……..

"What just happened here?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

"Heh, it looks like that technique had a nasty side effect," Smirked Kabuto.

"Why are you so happy? Your leader just died in front of you!" Yamato asked rather angrily.

"Please, I was never on his side even he knew that, I work alone," Kabuto said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"…This…is unbelievable…" Sakura said slowly," Wait! Sasuke-kun! Where is he?"

Sakura turned around to see Sasuke on the floor unconscious.

"Hurry! We have to take Sasuke to Konoha hospital," alerted Kakashi.

….

….

….

* * *

"You got him back here just in time, his brain cells would have crashed without you four," Tsunade said.

"So what happened to him, Orochimaru I mean?" Naruto asked while looking at the unconscious Sasuke.

"I experimented with the remainings of Orochimaru's body, and I found out that the experiment had a bug in it. If he performed it to many times, if would have eradicated his blood cells, which lead to his death." Tsunade explained.

"So he's finally gone? Wow that was pretty lucky…" Naruto smiled.

Everyone left the hospital room except Naruto and Sakura.

"Hey Naruto?" Sakura called.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… everything will go back to the way it was before?" Sakura sadly asked.

"…I don't know Sakura-chan; I really hope it does though…" Naruto replied.

Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke with sorrow.

* * *

(Three days later)

Light shoned on Sakura's face forcing her to wake up.

"Yawnn…"

She shot up dragging her feet to her bathroom as she was about to start a new day.

* * *

Sakura was walking through the village on her way to the hospital when all of the sudden she spot Naruto at Ichiraku.

"Hey! Naruto!" Sakura happily greeted, "I'm on my way to see Sasuke-kun do you want to come?"

Naruto took his full bowl of ramen and scarfed it down in one huge gulp.

"OK! Let's go Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said in a sing-song way.

Naruto and Sakura were walking through the village when they spotted Shikamaru and Ino.

"Hey Ino! We're allowed to see Sasuke-kun now; do you want to come with us?" Sakura asked.

"Uhh… Sorry I have plans today," Ino said nervously, "You see Shikamaru here is going to help me train today."

Sakura looked at Ino, then at Shikamaru. She quickly grabbed Ino's arm and pulled her away.

"Hey, what's up with you picking Shikamaru over Sasuke, do you like him now?" Sakura whispered.

"N-no nothing like that forehead-girl!" Ino answered.

"Just fess up," Sakura smiled with an evil glare.

**Meanwhile…**

"Hey Shikamaru, are you and Ino like, you know (Naruto lifts up his pinky)

"Nothing like that Naruto! You're so troublesome! She's just a girl who happens to be on my team!" Shikamaru said looking away as his face tinted red.

Naruto started to laugh and then said, "Okkk, whatever you say Shikamaru!"

"Now that you know don't tell anyone!" Ino said.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel? I think he might like you back!" Sakura winked.

"No…I think he likes Temari-san… I mean what's not to like about her, she's really strong, pretty, and smart, "Ino sadly admitted as she looked towards the ground.

"That doesn't sound like the Ino I know! Have some confidence, yeshh…" Sakura scolded.

Ino looked up and said, "Well I better go, Shikamaru's waiting for me, bye!"

Sakura watched Shikamaru and Ino leave, and then started to head towards Naruto.

"Haha, cute couple, aren't they Naruto?"

"Believe it"

* * *

**At the Konoha hospital**

Sakura opened the door to Sasuke's room and saw him still sleeping.

Naruto and Sakura sat in the visitor's chairs and watched Sasuke sleeping with no expression.

"Hey… That reminds me, Sakura-Chan you owe me money, 2500 "Ninja" yen to be exact," Naruto smiled.

"Whaaat? Sakura said shocked," How did that remind you of money?"

"Haha remember you needed to buy medical supplies yesterday? I had to go without my ramen lunch! You said you'll pay me back today! (:_ thinking: Yay! more ramen_!)"

"But, I'm saving up for Sasuke-kun's celebration when he wakes up," Sakura said sadly.

"It's ok! You'll just have to give me a hug then!" Naruto grinned ear to ear.

Sakura and Naruto didn't notice but Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up in his bed.

"Ok, just one!" Sakura gave in.

Sakura pulled Naruto close to her as Naruto hugged back twice as hard.

"HN…." Sasuke said shocked," Am I … missing something?"

Sakura broke away quickly as she saw Sasuke staring at Naruto.

"S-Sasuke-kun! You're awake! You're in Konoha now! Hahahha," Sakura nervously laughed with a twitching eye.

"_What a delightful awakening…" Sasuke thought_.

* * *

This chappie gave me lots of trouble to write! Hope you enjoyed this chapter of Here with Me.


	8. Those quiet days

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto people…

A/N wow im sorry for the LATE update anyways, did you notice my fanfic doesn't go with the manga anymore??? Yeahhh cause Sasuke betrayed Orochimaru (sorry, spoiler) hope you enjoy it

* * *

Those Quiet Days

"What do you mean I'm back in Konoha?" Sasuke said shocked, "Where's Orochimaru…,"

"He kind of, well… died, the snake guy did at least," Naruto explained, "and Kabuto left while you were unconscious, so we took you back."

Sasuke got up slowly heading out the door.

"_Damn, I have no choice but to stay in Konoha now," Sasuke thought. _

Before sasuke could get through the doorway, Sakura said, "We have to visit Tsunade-sama first."

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, apparently waiting for Sakura and Naruto to come to catch up with him.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto and the others have arrived," Shizune informed.

"Enter"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stepped through the doorway to find Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato already there.

"Now then, let's begin," Tsunade smiled, "Uchiha Sasuke, you are a missingnin from Konohagukure, and currently genin. You have two original teammates, Naruto who is a genin, and Sakura who is a chunin.

"_Sakura's a chunin?" Thought Sasuke._

"…Uchiha Sasuke, you have left the village for power, therefore betrayed the village. In order to gain back our trust, you will have to take on A LOT of missions for the next THREE years and you'll be on provation from taking a mission that takes more than two weeks. For our trust, you must _pledge_ on the Uchiha name to promise you won't leave the village ever again, is that clear?" Tsunade said intimidating.

"_She's figured our how to make him stay in konoha," Kakashi thought_

"Alright… I… Pledge on the _Uchiha_ name… that I will not leave the village for any different matters than missions, or so let the Uchiha name be dishonored," Sasuke said unsure and forcefully.

"Good, now we're all through with that … except if Kakashi wants to add more…"

"In fact, I do," said the cross-armed Kakashi, "You may not go on any solo missions, it most be with either me, Naruto, Sakura, or Sai. Oh yeah, by the way Sai is a new addition on our permanent team."

"Ok, you may all go now," Tsunade dismissed.

* * *

(outside)

"Haha, Sasuke-teme! Welcome back!" Naruto said patting Sasuke's back.

"Hn…"Sasuke said looking at the ground.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, lets all go somewhere to celebrate," Sakura suggested.

"…" Sasuke looked at Sakura.

"ICHIRAKU IT IS!!!!!!!" Naruto shouted jumping while shooting his fist in the air.

Everyone's head dropped down anime style.

* * *

(at Ichiraku)

"Yay! Ramen for me!" Naruto shouted gleefully.

"Heh… nothing's changed, "Sasuke thought.

Just as sasuke received his meal, a flock of anime fangirls dropped into the scene.

"Ahh! Sasuke-kun! Your back! We've missed you so muchhh!" One girl flirted.

Sasuke's eye twitched as one girl embraced him. All girls stood in a line, taking turns complementing and sucking up to him, some of the brave ones even went as far as confessing their love for him. When Sasuke finally shooed the girls away, Sakura and the others had already finished their meals. They waited as Sasuke started to eat his ramen, Naruto stared at Sasuke's ramen, lusting for it, until finally he ordered another.

"One more ramen please!" Naruto asked.

Sakura didn't pay attention to Naruto but was focusing on Sasuke thinking about what she was thinking about that one night a few months ago.

"Should I still be trying to get over him…? I mean he's back and all…, but it's not the same anymore…"Sakura thought quietly.

While Sakura mumbled to herself, she failed to notice everyone standing up.

"Sakura-chan, let's go!" Naruto said as he was standing outside of Ichiraku.

"A-alright" Sakura managed to reply, snapping out of her trance.

"Soo… what now?" Sakura asked breaking the awkward silence they had while walking down Konoha's streets.

"I need to see the hokage," Kakashi added, "bye for now." Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

That left just Sai, Yamato, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

"Uhh… I'm gonna go now," Everyone said in unison.

One word: **Awkward**

Everyone parted ways, Sai going to the Konoha library, Yamato headed to who-knows-where, Naruto headed to his apartment, Sakura going to the training grounds, and Sasuke headed to his old room.

* * *

(Later)

Sasuke's POV

"Everything looks exactly the same way I left it that day…" Sasuke said while examining his dusty room. He closely focused on every detail of his nostalgic trip through his room. He suddenly stopped realizing a difference in his room. On his table stood a picture of team seven with a note, "I knew you'd come back someday, Kakashi" Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, and then mumbled, "Like I had a choice."

* * *

(With Sakura)

"_Finally, team seven is back,"_ Sakura smiled. She glanced at the three logs and thought about the first time they were a team, the genin test with Kakashi.

She thought of all of the time Sasuke called her weak, useless, or annoying.

"_Because…, you're annoying."_

"_You're worse than Naruto"_

"_Get off Sakura!"_

"_Sakura, you're heavy"_

Then she thought of the time Sasuke tried to cheer her up.

"_Your Genjutsu is the most improved on our team,"_

"Heh," Sakura sighed, "I'll prove I'm not a little weakling anymore." With that said, Sakura began training.

* * *

(A week later)

"Good morning you guys," Sakura said to her teammates as they met at their usual spot; the bridge.

Sasuke and Sai were standing there with tension rising, but Sakura didn't notice. All of the sudden Naruto came running to them with his usual go-happy personality, greeting them. If Naruto wasn't there, it would've been pretty awkward. Sakura and Naruto started babbling about meaningless things for twenty minutes. During that time, Sasuke noticed how friendly Naruto and Sakura got towards each other; they seemed like old best friends.

"POOF"

"Good morning, sorry I'm late I…"

"**You're not sorry**!" Naruto and Sakura shouted.

"Heh-heh, anyways, hokage-sama wants to see you, pronto," Kakashi added.

* * *

(at Tsunade's office)

"I've gathered all of you today to announce that you have a new mission, without Kakashi of course," Tsunade explained.

"Huhh?" Everyone asked, shocked by her words.

"Your mission is ranked as an A mission, and your mission is…. is to protect a princess; the princess of the land of ramen. (I dunno just go along with it lol) you must make her arrival to the land of waves safe.

The princess and the country is totally made up so if you have suggestions on her name, just review or send it to me in an email!

Next time:

"_The Princess and the Ink master_"


	9. The Princess and the Ink Master

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto in any shape or form

Thanks to C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only and everyone else who reviewed. My friend was asking me to put this up yesterday so I put this up because her, XD. Sorry for the long wait, next chapter should be up just before June is over.

* * *

Chapter Nine

The Princess and the Ink master

"To escort a princess? That's an A ranked mission? That's really pathetic," Naruto whined.

"Well this princess is not an ordinary princess, she's recently been attacked by rogue ninjas."

"Why?" Sakura questioned.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out as well..:" Tsunade informed, "you'll all head out at five today, so get packing."

* * *

(Later)

The gang was by Konoha's gates, waiting to meet the princess. Finally, walking towards them was four ANBU members and a Princess walking in the middle of them.

"We'll leave her to you now," implied the ANBU squad leader.

Now they could see the Princess more clearly, she was medium height, thin, blonde-haired and green-eyed. If Naruto and Sakura ever had a daughter, she'd look like this. But she resembled Sakura more, like a clone actually.

"Hello," She greeted.

"Hey!!!!" "Hi" "Nice to meet you new friend" "Hn…"

(Guess that order)

"Now, head out!" Tsunade directed.

"HAI!"

* * *

(Nightfall)

"Ok, who's going to do night duty?" asked Sakura.

"Sai will," deviously smiled Naruto.

"Then we all agree? OK! Sai, you'll have night duty to guard the princess!" Sakura quickly agreed.

"…"

Everyone headed back into the tents, except of Sai of course. Sai stood outside of the princess' tent for about an hour until he heard a faint rustling noise… Sai looked around, but he found nothing. He finally looked inside the tent, the princess was missing! Sai started to panic, he looked everywhere until he was about to wake up the others. Just as he was about to, though, he found footprints behind the princess' tent. Sai followed the footprints, until he finally found someone on a strange rock formation looking over a large lake. Sai walked closer and noticed that is was the princess; she was safe.

"You know, you kind of scared me for a second princess,"

The princess turned around panicking, until she noticed that is was Sai.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" The princess politely apologized.

"That's ok" Sai said with his famous fake smile.

She smiled back very sweetly, "I never actually got your name, may I ask what it is?"

Sai chuckled, "My name is Sai, by the way, what exactly are you doing up here, princess?" Sai asked while sitting by the princess on the giant rock.

"Please call me Narihime," Narihime said, "Well actually, my grandmother used to tell me that on full moons, my locket will start to glow into a million colors at midnight."

She showed Sai her heart-shaped locket. The detail on it was simply magnificent, a beautiful design here and there, dazzling jewels like rubies and diamonds mounted on the white-gold locket.

"But only when you're away from city lights, you see, I've never actually left Konoha before…"

"So you want to see if what your grandmother told you was true?" asked Sai.

"Yes, everyone from my family claims they have seen it at least once…"

Before Narihime could continue, the locket started to illuminate. The locket shined as bright as the sun in a clear sky, Sai and Narihime was in fascination. It was over as quickly as it started.

"What makes the locket glow like that?" Sai interrogated.

"I think it has something to do with chakra…" Narihime replied.

Out of nowhere popped out three ninjas. One was super tall, dark and handsome. He had shoulder length silver hair, blue eyes, and a crooked smile. Next, there was a medium height kind of guy. He also had blue eyes but had spiky black hair. Next to him was a tall man, he was very attractive. He had short blond hair with deep green eyes.

"Give us that locket," the blonde man simply commanded. Sai and Narihime stared in amazement, then Sai asked, "What do you want if for, what's so special about this locket?"

"That's for us to know…" The man suddenly charged forward, "And you not to find out!"

Blondie was just about to attack when the silver guy suddenly commanded him to stop.

"Don't waste your time Ryo, no need for reckless behavior."

"But Kyo…"

"Silence," Kyo quickly responded, "Now then princess, why don't you just hand that locket over so we won't have to bother you anymore?"

"No!!" Narihime defended.

Kyo gave an icy glare towards Narihime and Sai, "I'll give you one more day to think about it, if you decide not to give it over, then I might have to kill you…" Kyo evilly smiled.

They retreated.

"Maybe I should've tried to take them on…" Sai wondered.

"Don't worry you have my complete trust, I believe in you," Narihime smiled.

* * *

Narihime, like or dislike? Opinons appreciated.

Next time: The Secret of the Locket


	10. The Secret of the Locket

Thanks to all of those who reviewed! You guys are the best. BTW Link Fangirl01, her full name is Narihime so yeah it's like Narihime-hime OO yeah… Anyways I'm thinking of posting a new story I wrote its romance/humor and called "10 unforgettable dates". I hope you enjoy this story!

Disclaimer: Naruto is SUPER cool so yeah, it cannot possibly be from me…

Chapter 10: The Secret of the Locket

* * *

(Morning comes)

"Yawn! Good morning everyone!" Sakura said while she stretched.

"Hn, morning Sakura-chan, good morning hag, very good morning to you too, Sakura-san," Everyone greeted back.

The group ate breakfast while discussing what had happened to Sai and Narihime that night. Finally, they headed out.

"Do you think they'll follow us?" Sai questioned.

"Definitely," Naruto replied.

* * *

(Night)

They were only a half a day away from "waves" when they stopped for camp.

"We best prepare for an enemy attack," Sasuke informed.

"Right," Sakura replied.

This time, no one slept except Narihime. They waited for about an hour or so until they felt presences lurking.

"They're here," Sakura whispered.

"Heh," Scoffed Ryo, "Look at that Satoshi, all the kids stayed up to "protect" the princess." Ryo chuckled.

"Are these the kiddies you talked about?" said a femine voice.

Out of a bush stepped out a girl who looked about twenty years old. She had long red hair (No she's not Karin) and stern hazel eyes and was about five foot two.

"Ohh… This kiddie's cute" She winked towards Sasuke.

He twitched and thought _"Back away, woman."_

She started walking towards Sasuke, while he silently backed away. Sakura got jealous for just an instant, but got over it.

"Typical, it's always about Sas-," Sakura said out loud by accident.

Sasuke looked her way.

"Whoops!" Sakura said covering her mouth with both hands.

"Enough small talk," Kyo commanded, "So …Did you make up your mind?... Hand it over... or die at this very spot!"

(Tense moment)

"What's so special about this necklace; tell us or no deal at all!" Narihime boldly demanded.

"Well…fine," The redhead hesitantly agreed, "the necklace provides immeasurable poser. At the stroke of midnight on a full moon, it gives the wielder of its power the strength, jutsu, and chakra of five kages combined, enough to take down any hidden village!"

Narihime was suddenly shocked that something as little as her locket had that much power.

"…What do you want with that power…?" Narihime whispered.

"He…Nothing much… Just to take over the Land of Waves!" Kyo chuckled evilly.

Narihime gasped.

"Well... I guess that's too bad… because that will never happen!" Naruto yelled.

"I agree with Naruto-san, no deal!" Narihime informed them.

"Grr…" Kyo glared at Narihime.

Kyo charged full speed forward.

"I guess then, time to die bitch!" Kyo angrily yelled.

Narihime was frightened, but stood her ground hoping that her glare will scare Kyo.

(Yeah, like that will happen)

Out of nowhere Kyo draws a long double-edged kanata. He puts the kanata next to Sai's throat and says "Any last words midriff boy?"

Kyo grinned

Naruto started cracking up. (WoW)Sakura tried to hold in her laughter, but failed to do so.

"_What a loser,"_ Sasuke thought_, "Who says those lame villainy lines anymore…?"_

"Uhhh yeah… Don't ever say that line in public again," Sai fake smiled.

Sai quickly used a replacement jutsu and attacked Kyo from above. Sai unsheathed his sword and just missed Kyo by an inch when he quickly saw that Ryo was racing towards Narihime once again.

"NO!" Sai yelled.

He dashed forward to get to Narihime when suddenly Sasuke picks her up and sets her down one hundred yards away, behind Naruto and co., in a blink of an eye.

"Sai, the others and I agreed that you and Narihime should run, we'll handle these posers," Sakura whispered.

"Ok," Sai softly affirmed.

Sai ran as quickly as possible as he could to Narihime. He stood next to her and then poofed away together.

"No!" Kyo said frustrated.

He tried to go after Sai and Narihime.

"Uh, Uh, Uh," Sakura stood in his path, "you'll have to get through us!"

Kyo smirked and stated "heh, that'll be easy…"

"Wha…"Sakura gasped. Kyo had leaped five ft above her and ran towards the direction Sai and Narihime were at.

Meanwhile Kyo was thinking, "They couldn't have gone far… especially since he transported the princess as well…" So they could've only gone to the direction they were facing in…"

After a few moments Kyo was out of sight.

"Sai can handle himself," Naruto said to a worried Sakura.

"Alright…" Sakura said uneasily.

"Yumi, shall we?" Ryo grinned.

"We shall…" (Yumi is that redhead chick who digs Sasuke.)

Sakura spun on her heels to face Yumi, Ryo, and Satoshi.

* * *

Jeezz…

Yumi- redhead

Satoshi- Blackhead (pft LOL)

Ryo-Naruto clone (blondy)

Kyo-Suigetsu look alike

So… here's the line up!

Sakura vs. Yumi

Naruto vs. Ryo

Sasuke vs. Satoshi

Sai vs. Kyo

Btw, yeah Sai cough Narihime cough have a little something cough something… LOL

Reviews are fully appreciated. Questions are always answered (unless it spoils it)

**Lalalagirl55**

Next time on Here With Me!

A Pursuit and Three Insane Battles


	11. A Pursuit and Three Insane Battles

Disclaimer: lalalagirl does not own Naruto. Why is lalalagirl speaking in third person? She has no idea.

Thank you everyone for reviewing! …AND for putting up with the lateness of this chapter. I cannot wait until this arc is done --; I'm really bad at writing fight scenes P AND if you want updates about my stories, check my profile for them!!

* * *

Chapter 11: A Pursuit and Three Insane Battles

"It seems that we have no choice but to fight," Announced the "attractive" redhead.

"You, sexy, can fight me all you want," Purred the pedophile, "What's your name sweetheart, it's okay don't be shy."

Sasuke gagged right then and there, Sakura stared at Yumi like she was crazy, and Naruto just stood there gaping. Sakura shifted her facial expression from shocked to pissed off to the max. She wasn't going to let this twenty-something-year-old person degrade Sasuke. She narrowed her eyes and gave Yumi a cold, hard glare.

"Look, "lady", you're not even worthy to know his name," Sakura stared at Yumi viciously.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow and glanced at Sakura. He had to admit, he was curious to what Sakura had to say in this awkward situation.

"Hm, look _little_ girl, I don't have time to play around with bitches like you. Learn to get respect around here or no one will take you seriously."

"Hm…? Funny… I smell a bit, I don't know… hypocrite here," Sakura mocked the perverted lady.

"Why you!!!" Yumi dashed towards the smirking Sakura.

Sakura knew this was coming; she wasn't surprised at the least. She knew that women like these had no sense of self-pride. Sakura put on her black gloves and looked at Yumi furiously. Right when Yumi was about to jump on Sakura, Sakura sprang up into the air leaping over the shocked redhead. Now, Sakura was behind her. Sakura grabbed Yumi's revealing shirt and tossed her across the campsite. Yumi fell on her pride as she hit the mud. She screamed out in frustration, mostly because she knew Sakura wasn't seriously trying to hurt her. Yumi ran at Sakura once again, but this time she used a jutsu that was not recognized by Sakura.

"Ninja Art: ice prison jutsu!"

"_Kuso!" Sakura thought._

Several ice-like-bars surrounded the pink beauty as she slowly began to realize that these bars were hard to break

"Ha! You can't break out of those! They're pure steel wrapped around dry ice! There's no way you'll get out of this jutsu!" Yumi mocked.

"Hmm… I don't think so," Sakura replied.

Sakura gathered a small sum of chakra to her left hand, as she began to ball her fists up.

"Shannaro!"

BAM

"_I knew that was coming," Thought Sasuke._

The ice prison crunched and fell over as Yumi just stared at it with disbelief.

"_Kuso… how could this girl have such brute strength? Just who is she?" Yumi cursed._

Sakura slowly began to walk towards Yumi. Yumi stared at her, still in shock of her strength. Yumi eventually snapped out of her trance and did a back flip.

"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu"

All of the sudden, a huge tiger appeared before Sakura. Sakura looked up at the monstrous beast in amazement. She gulped and closed her eyes. She knew what she had to do… This, this still was just a test. I guess you could say Yumi is the guinea pig. She's practiced this with Tsunade before but she wasn't sure if she could conjure up a beast as large as this tiger. Sakura hesitantly bit her thumb and pressed it towards the cold ground.

"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu"

Before Sakura came out an equivalent-to-the-giant-tiger-sized slug.

"Katsuyu-san…" Sakura looked in disbelief. She had never in a million years suspected the Katsuyu would be whom she could conjure up. Sakura stared at her hand while it was shaking. She had no idea how she had just preformed this feat, it really did amaze her that she had the strength to do so. She suddenly was washed over with a newfound confidence. She **believed** that she could beat this person.

(Meanwhile)

"Sai-kun… um… I think someone's following us," Narihime whispered to Sai.

"I've noticed."

"Maybe you should let me down… take the locket and try to get as far as you could, that way he won't be able to catch either of us and the loc-"

"I'm not leaving you behind, Narihime-san," Sai smiled upon Narihime.

It surprised Sai, it was one of the rare, genuine smiles that only came upon Sai every-so-often. Narihime blushed and turned away.

"Oh… gomensai," Narihime said silently.

Sai suddenly got much faster, he forced chakra in his legs to make him move even faster. It was a struggle now for Kyo to keep up, even though Sai was carrying Narihime at the same time.

(Back with Sakura and Yumi)

You could say Sasuke, Naruto, Ryo, and Satoshi were watching Sakura and Yumi fighting. It was pretty entertaining.

"It would be SO much better with a pit of mud," Satoshi added.

Ryo quickly turned to Satoshi, mainly towards the fact that Satoshi muttered a word, and also because that he was so right. Sasuke stared at Satoshi and Naruto grinned towards the guy and said, "You are so right!"

The bunch that was witnessing the fight suddenly realized that they were agreeing with the enemy.

"Hmph,"

They shot each other cold glares, but **nothing** could compare to the infamous "Uchiha" glare. Ryo and Satoshi backed up onto a tree. One could say that they were either scared shitless, or that they were planning something. Ryo and Satoshi lunged towards the unsuspecting Naruto and Sasuke, but the duo quickly caught on. Ryo shot shuriken at Naruto, but of course he dodged it. (A/N wow they should realize by now that shuriken are basically useless) Naruto kage-bunshined his sorry ass and did his famous Uzumaki barrage, but with a twist.

"Odama Rasengan!"

Ryo appeared stunned as he was hit square on in the chest, but then something unusual occurred. Ryo's cells were regenerating! Just as fast as the hole in his chest appeared, it disappeared.

"Heh, you can't beat me… I have medical abilities that you cannot surpass. I can regenerate any wound. My medical water jutsu allows me to do so," Ryo smirked towards the wide-eyed Naruto.

"_Damn it!" Naruto cursed._

Sasuke was fighting Satoshi at the time; Satoshi was slipperier than he thought. Satoshi was dodging everything Sasuke was throwing at him.

"_Kuso! I guess I have to whip out my sharingan…"_

"Sharingan!"

Satoshi stood there stunned.

"No way… the last Uchiha! How did I not notice his emblem?!" Satoshi said more to himself than the smirking Uchiha in front of him.

In all the shock and confusion of Satoshi… Sasuke chidorid (A/N Is it chidoried or chidored? Jsfdlka;) him without him suspecting it.

(With Sakura)

"Ahh!" Sakura yelled out.

Yumi and Sakura's summons disappeared; both were equal in strength so they canceled each other out. Sakura have fallen off her summon causing Yumi to take advantage of the situation.

Sakura dodged Yumi's quick punch and grabbed her forearm. She threw Yumi towards the ground below them and quickly punched the unsuspecting Yumi. Yumi hit the ground with enough force that it obliterated the ground.

…

Sakura had won; Yumi was unconscious or close to death. Either one of the situations would have been fine, now she could help her teammates. She ran off towards the blurs that fought with great speed.

(With Sai and Narihime)

"I think… we finally lost him Narihime-san…" Sai managed to breathe out.

Carrying Narihime took more out of him than he had originally thought. Little did he know that Kyo was right behind him...

* * *

A/N: So how'd you guys like it? Was it okay? Horrible? Good? Boring? (I don't enjoy flames T.T) This chapter was gnawing at my soul for at least five months, I cannot write fight scene! It's so difficult! But I PROMISE that there will be more romance soon! So if you enjoy the romance, make sure not to give up on me! I really do not have a clue when I will post the new chapter, I have to post the new chapter for 10 unforgettable Dates soon, so if I don't update in a while I did NOT forget the story! It might be a week until I post it or it might be three months… So don't give up! I will NEVER discontinue this story, even if it is killing me internally ;. (But it's not XD)

Thank you all for your patience! Make sure you R/R! I will GREATLY appreciate it!!

lalalagirl (Yes I changed my name from lalalagirl55 to lalalagirl)

Next time on Here With Me:

**The Conclusion**


	12. The Conclusion

A/n Thank you all who (Still) support my fic! And for all those who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 12: The Conclusion

"Sai-kun! Look out behind you!" Yelled out Narihime.

Sai dodged Kyo's kick that was designed for his head. Sai flipped back and took out his paintbrush and his scroll. He drew out pictures of many different types of animals that then attacked Kyo. Each creature hit Kyo dead on; it caused to him swing back in pain.

"Damn it! I thought I could get you…" Kyo muttered.

"I won't let you get the locket, or Narihime!" Sai announced.

Sai surprised himself; after all of those countless hours in the library he spent in the library trying to regain his emotions, nothing ever made him feel this way. It was a mixture of determination, courage, and over protectiveness. He was amazed at how this mission unlocked those buried emotions, or perhaps it was Narihime's doing… Sai noticed that Narihime made him feel… different than he felt around others. Especially females. He couldn't put his finger on how he felt towards her, but he knew he didn't want her to get hurt.

Sai took out his scroll, and then quickly drew a rather large Shuriken. The shuriken popped out of the page and Sai quickly grabbed the weapon. He launched the Chinese star to the already-beaten-down Kyo as Kyo attempted to dodge it. To Sai's luck, Kyo was hit in the thigh.

"Ahh! You bastard! I'll make you pay!"

Kyo stood up and growled in frustration. Sai was prepared to give yet another attack but Kyo was too quick for him. Kyo did many several hand signs and finally used a jutsu not familiar to Sai.

"Ninja Art: Ice storm jutsu!"

All of the sudden, several ice shards shot from the sky. It caused both Sai and Narihime to lean over in pain. The jutsu caused several small cuts all over Sai and Narihime. Through the storm, he managed to open one eye to look for Narihime. Then he saw it, he saw Narihime leaning over in pain with her eyes shut. Sai got pissed off at that moment; he sprinted towards the princess and sheltered her from the storm. There was no way out of this storm so Sai did what he could. He hugged Narihime tightly and hovered over he like a protective shield. Narihime eventually opened her eyes wondering why she no longer felt pain. She looked up at Sai protecting her. This brought tears to her eyes.

"S-sai-kun!"

The storm stopped and Sai fell over. The jutsu was not fatal, but it sure did bring a lot of pain. There was no evidence of the jutsu on the ground except small puddles of water. Sai was bleeding all over while Narihime was bleeding slightly as well. Kyo walked over to Narihime and Sai, he thought himself as the victor of this battle. Narihime held Sai protectively, as Kyo was getting closer and closer.

"Kekeke, young lady that look does not fit a princess. Why don't you come with me, I'll make sure you're nice and clean," Kyo winked.

Narihime stared at the attempted flirting. Win the battle and get the girl? Oh no, that'snot true for Kyo's case. As soon as Sai heard that he got up from Narihime's arms and stood to face Kyo. His feelings were all over the place, all of his emotions exploded at that time.

Jealousy

Sai was not going to let Kyo openly flirt with Narihime like that. He took out his scroll once more and wrote several words on the paper.

Anger

Sai threw the used scroll into the air and several weapons started to fly towards the unsuspecting Kyo. Sai looked at Narihime and told her to stand back.

Sadness

Sai felt guilty that Narihime was hurt because he wasn't strong enough to protect her. Kyo now had several ink weapons embedded in his body.

"You think that these weapons will hurt me?! Think again!"

Triumph

Sai gave a smirk, not a fake smile, a smirk and smartly said, "Too bad those weapons are poisoned, right?"

Kyo looked alarmed as the weapons melted and once again was ink. It was in his body now; the ink poison was in his system! Kyo couldn't move any more, and he soon fell over from the poison.

Sai walked over to Narihime.

"Hey… you okay?" Sai asked.

"Hai Sai-kun, thank you … so much!" Narihime smiled the sweetest smile possible. Sai thought she looked like an angel sent from above.

Sai finally understood what his true emotion was.

**Love**

He loved Narihime. It was a little sudden, but he knew deep inside that no one would ever make him feel the way Narihime made him feel.

"Come on Narihime, let's go back." Sai smiled a true smile, the one that was reserved for Narihime all his life.

(With Naruto and Sasuke)

Sasuke panted as Satoshi fell over in defeat. Satoshi at first underestimated Sasuke; it was the cause of his sudden defeat. Sasuke glanced towards Naruto as he noticed Ryo was regenerating.

"What's his ability…?" Sasuke thought out loud.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Ryo was much more advanced than any of his teammates. Even though Kyo was the leader, Ryo was much more skilled. Naruto created ten shadow clones and five of them had the rasengan in the palm of their fists. They leapt towards Ryo and all of the attacks hit Ryo. Ryo doubled over in pain but he regenerated all of the wounds.

"Hey guys, need any help?" Sakura appeared next to Naruto.

"Um, can you tell me how this water-regenerating technique works?" Naruto pointed towards Ryo.

Sakura examined Ryo, she noticed that the regenerating process was like a sped up process of healing. In other words, it was just a fast version of staying in the hospital healing. Sakura found the cause, now she had to find the solution.

"_The cells are regenerating..."_

"Oh! Sasuke, Naruto, keep on hitting him with your chidori and rasengan," Sakura commanded.

They nodded in agreement and did as they were told to do. After a while, Ryo began to notice that his movement grew slower and slower.

"Hey! B-bitch what did you do to me?!" Ryo glared angrily towards Sakura.

Sakura smirked and said, "I didn't do anything, I just noticed that every time you regenerate you get older. In other words, your lifespan shortens. The cells that constantly regenerates cause an immense amount of stress on your body."

"W-what?"

Sasuke and Naruto smirked and they gave the finishing blow to the blonde. He could not regenerate anymore.

"It's over…" Naruto said quietly.

"What about Sai?" Asked Sakura.

"Present."

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura turned around to see Narihime and Sai together walking towards them.

"What happened to the silver-haired guy?" Naruto asked.

"We defeated him."

….

"Let's get moving then!!!" Naruto shot his fist in the air triumphantly.

Everyone smirked as they walked the path towards the Land of the Waves.

* * *

A/N I know this chapter was short, but I updated really early! I might be able to post the new chapter today too (I couldn't see any other end for this chapter so I ended it here XD). The next chapter will be out really, really early. Like in the span of a week or two. Keep an eye out (I'm SO glad that the fight scenes are OVER!)

Please r/r I would really, really appreciate it.

Oh btw, I was rereading the first couple of chapters… and you don't know how many face-palms I did XD SO many Naruto-universal mistakes and just plain bad writing. I was such a noob XD.

LOL SaixNarihime canon (in my fic) Narihime was the key to Sai's chest of emotions XD.


	13. Land Of Waves

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N Thank you all that reviewed! It really does help me!

* * *

Chapter 13: Land of Waves

Finally, the Konoha ninjas arrived at their destination. Sai & Narihime, hand in hand, were walking side by side happily.

"Oi, since when did you two… become an item?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"N-naruto-san! We're not an item…" Narihime stuttered as she turned away blushing from Sai.

"Hey, dickless, don't talk," Sai said a bit playfully.

"TEME!!!" Naruto shouted and pointed towards the smirking Sai.

"Hey you two calm it down. Here's the place we're supposed to go too…" Sakura pointed at the large building.

(Inside)

"Finally, the princess has arrived!" A man wearing a black suit shouted ecstatically.

"Welcome princess!" several people in kimonos greeted the beloved princess.

"My name is Honda Akira," Akira introduced, "well, Narihime-sama, you must be wondering why you were escorted here… right?"

"Yes, I have been wondering that for quite a while now…" Narihime informed.

"Well, here's the bit. You know you've been sent to Konoha to be protected from rouges, but the real reason for that precaution is because… your locket, that you are currently wearing, holds phenomenal power. That power can wipe out any hidden village."

"Yes, we learned that on the way here. A group of rogues attacked us."

"… I see, we were afraid of that happening. These Konoha shinobi live up to the reputation."

"I couldn't ask for a better team," Narihime smiled.

"I see, well your father has informed to us that… your new village will be, in fact, the land of the waves. Your father has signed all the papers and no one shall know of this except the Konoha forces… and the land of waves."

"! Honda-sama, I-is it really true? Am I being transferred to this village?" Narihime asked shocked.

"Yes, even though you lived in Konoha your whole life, rogues discovered recently that you were residing at that village. For your own safety, you must stay in this village for now on."

"So… is today the day I move in?"

"Yes, you will be living deep in the village with the villagers. They are very friendly and they support the konoha shinobi, since they saved this village once before."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura smiled slightly at this revelation. Sai was very… depressed. He had just met Narihime and now he couldn't see her anymore.

"Okay, I will send for an escort."

(In the village)

"This place is so nostalgic!" Sakura cried out happily.

She remembered the struggles they have gone through at this village. Everything looked the same… yet different. The place was way livelier, rich with culture and love. This place looked to be one of the happiest places you could be in the world. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto looked satisfied through this. They felt like they had accomplished an amazing feat, which they did, and Naruto looked as jolly as ever.

"Kekeke! Did you see the sign for the bridge?"

"Yes Naruto, for the tenth time, we saw your name," Sakura sweat dropped.

Naruto was laughing up a storm in his own little world. His name was already famous!

"The great Naruto bridge… what a perfect name for the bridge!!"

"We're here," The escort said.

The gang looked inside, it was small, but it looked homey and cozy. They walked in looking around at the place. It had small kitchen, a small living room, and a small bedroom. All the home supplies that were necessary were already in the home, pot and pans, cleaning supplies, pillows and blankets, and food in the refrigerator.

"I hope you take a liking to this place, also, Akira-sama said that the Konoha are welcomed anytime to the village. They can leave whenever the wish too as well." The escort dismissed himself as he shut the door. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto continued to look around, but Sai went straight to Narihime.

"Narihime… will you like it here?" Sai questioned a bit sad.

"I think… I'll be able to adjust," Narihime whispered.

In truth, Narihime didn't want to be separated from Sai. But she knew that she couldn't be selfish, for her father's sake and Sai's sake. Sai had a life at Konoha he had friends in Konoha. Narihime knew that it was not possible to live like that, since destiny gave her the advantages and disadvantages of being a princess. Narihime looked away from Sai, she couldn't face him. It would be harder for her and him.

…

It has been about an hour since they were last in the house. Sai had gone off somewhere unknown, he said he had business to attend to. Narihime said she wished to be left alone in the comfort in her new home. So that left Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, where they were heading was somewhere that everyone was familiar with…

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Team 7 could hear footsteps coming to the doorway. They were anxiously waiting to see them again.

Someone opened the door. Naruto smiled brightly as he noticed it was Inari.

"INARI! It's been so long!"

"N-naruto? NARUTO!!" Inari jumped out and hugged the shinobi.

Inari and Naruto were jumping up and down like idiots, Sakura laughed at this as Sasuke smirked at this scene.

"Hey, what's all the racket?" Tazuna called out.

As soon as he saw who it was, he immediately grinned.

"Naruto! Sakura, Sasuke!" Tazuna came to them as Sakura and Sasuke said hi.

At that moment, Tsunami came out smiling brightly. She laughed at the sight of Inari and Naruto. It was a Kodak moment. As soon as everyone settled down, Inari and Tazuna spoke up.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We had a mission, we're leaving soon but we wanted to say hi!" Naruto grinned, "Besides, I promised I would visit, right Inari?"

"Yep!" Inari laughed out loud.

"Come in! Come in! I made lunch and there's enough for all of us!" Tsunami motioned them to enter.

….

"My my! All of you have grown so much! Naruto you look as strong as ever, Sasuke you look even more handsome than you previously were. And Sakura you look beautiful!" Tsunami complimented.

"Hey Naruto, did you hear? They're planning to open up a ninja academy in the village for kids. They want to make sure this village will be safe! I plan to join myself!" Inari couldn't stop smiling.

"That's great news!" Naruto exclaimed.

"So Naruto, when are you leaving," Inari frowned a bit.

"Most likely tonight, or tomorrow at dawn."

Everyone laughed and caught up with each other. But when it was time to leave everyone was saddened.

"Bye Inari! I promise to visit again!"

"Yep! I'll be waiting!" Inari and his family waved back.

"I'm happy for them," Sakura said.

"Yeah, I'm glad they're building that school!" Naruto smirked.

"… It looks like we left a good mark on this village," Sasuke added.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke walked off triumphantly. Meanwhile, Narihime was in her new home thinking, suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. She stood up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey…"

It was Sai, the very man she was just thinking about. She admitted it to herself that she was in love with Sai. Sai was kind and caring, he wasn't the type of person that would hurt someone intentionally. He was everything she was looking for.

"Narihime… I have to talk to you."

"Okay," She slightly smiled.

Sai walked in and started to talk to the blonde that he loved oh so much.

….

"Knock, Knock"

"Coming!"

Narihime opened the door for the konoha ninja. They walked in to see Sai already there on the couch. Narihime sat next to him as the three of them sat across.

"Naruto-san, Sasuke-san, Sakura-san, we have to tell you guys something."

"? What is it Narihime-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Well, Sai and I were talking for a while before you three came, and Sai already had talked to the Hokage-sama…"

"Huh? Why would Sai talk to the Baa-chan?"

"I see… well we should be on our way soon." Sakura stood up.

"Wait, what's going on? I don't get what they're talking about!" Naruto grabbed Sakura's wrist.

Sakura turned around and smiled at him, "Don't you see Naruto? Sai… he's staying here in the Land of Waves."

"What?!"

Sasuke looked shocked as well. He couldn't piece together what was happening, as he had no experience in "that" departure.

"Heh, Naruto. Sasuke-kun. They are in love… don't you see?" Sakura pointed at the now blushing couple, "I should know…"

"I do not wish to be separated from Narihime, and I do not want anything to happen to her."

"Hn, I see now," Sasuke stood up as well. He somewhat could understand the situation… as he had also had the feeling of desire to protect the ones he cared about. _"like Naruto… and __Sakura__…"_

"So, teme, you're staying here?" Naruto asked the fair skinned ninja.

"Yeah…"

"Okay… well we should be on our way…" Naruto hurriedly stood up. It was never easy saying goodbye to teammates and friends.

Team 7 walked to the door as Narihime and Sai followed closely.

"Goodbye everyone! Thank you for everything!" Narihime bowed.

"Goodbye Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, and Sasuke-kun," Sai waved slightly.

Everyone smiled at this, the first time Sai said something decent. They waved good-bye to the princess and her beloved ink master.

The sun was setting as team seven was walking far off into the distance and everything was serene.

"Let's go inside, Narihime-chan," Sai smiled at his loved one.

"Okay," Narihime smiled back.

* * *

A/N

SOOO how was the latest installment of Here With Me?!? (To tell you the truth… the main reason I wrote this arc was because Sai was being a hassle…) I planned this from the beginning… as I planned the whole story XD. I know there isn't a lot of Sasusaku in the current arc (For it was mainly SaiNari) I couldn't handle four characters. The next chapter is going to show the team in Konoha again… with another… okay I won't reveal it. More Sasusaku love in the next installment of Here With Me!

Review and message, they make my day!


	14. Hidden Feelings, Locked Emotions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Finally! The Fourteenth chapter of Here With Me! YAY! Sasusaku!!

* * *

Chapter 14: Hidden Feelings, Locked Emotions

"Sakura-chan!"

"…"

"Sakura-channnnn!!"

"…"

"SAKURA-CHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

"Huh?!" Sakura shot up and hit Naruto straight in the face.

"Ahh!"

"Gomen ne, Naruto!"

"I-It's okay, Sakura-chan."

"Hmph, the dobe deserved it. He could've woken up everyone within a mile with his loud voice."

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing in my room?" Naruto looked at Sakura. It was okay for Naruto to come in her room, but not Sasuke? Weird.

"And what time is it?"

"3 am." Sakura sweatdropped. Why the heck were they in her room at three am? A mission? Either way, it annoyed her. They really didn't have any right to barge in like this. They could've knocked!

"You know, you guys should've knocked!"

"We did, for about ten minutes. Sakura-chan, did you ever realize you're a heavy sleeper?"

"Eh… it never occurred to me…"

"Anyways, Tsunade-baa-chan called. I think it's urgent."

"Alright, I'm up."

* * *

"What took you guys so long? When the hokage needs you, the HOKAGE needs you!"

"Sorry, it's my fault," Sakura sweatdropped.

"Anyways, there's been a sighting of a mysterious intruder. S/he attacked the guards at the gate, and could be anywhere in the village. Team Gai & Shikamaru's squad are searching as well."

"Wait, don't you usually ask a higher rank for the job?"

"Well, if you hadn't noticed all of them are all on missions."

"Okay, we'll be on it."

--

--

"What exactly are we searching for?"

"Anything suspicious, try to keep up dobe."

"NANI!? I'll beat you SASUKE-TEME!!" Naruto shouted to the world.

"Oi, Naruto! Keep it down!" Sakura complained.

"I'll beat you! Just like old times!" Naruto started to sprint off crazily. At first Sasuke & Sakura were able to keep up but after twenty minutes… they hadn't the stamina to hold on much longer.

"Sasuke-kun, was it really necessary to do that to Naruto?"

"… I only did it so he would leave."

Sakura slightly laughed. Sasuke's pretty clever... But then it hit her… Why not her as well? Why would he keep her around and not Naruto? Sakura turned to face Sasuke, and gave him a confused look. Sasuke noticed this and said, "With him around, we'll get nothing done. All he does is wake up sleeping citizens." ...Great. Sasuke got her hopes up, and shot them back down. Hey at least he doesn't consider her THAT much of an annoyance… right?

"Sakura. I see something…! Follow me." Sasuke passed through the shrubs and bushes, as he finally made his way to the ninja academy.

"Tch. They're gone."

Sakura looked around a bit more until she sat on the swing. She gently closed her eyes going into deep thought. It's okay to take a break for a little bit I guess… I have a feeling whatever we saw is gone now anyways… Hmm… the breeze feels nice. This swing brings back memories…

"_Sakura, why is your forehead so huge? EW. It's going to eat me! I'm terrified! Hahaha!" Ami laughed hysterically. _

"_Yeahhh! Ino-pig isn't here to protect you now, you big baby!" Ami's follower teased. _

"_P-please guys! I just want to swing. C-can't you just leave me alone?"_

"_Haha and miss this chance? No way! Sakura, or should I say SUCKERAA! FOREHEAD! NANANANNANAAAAAAAAAAA!" Ami started to push Sakura around. Her "friends" formed a circle around Sakura and continuously started to push her around. At this point, Sakura felt like crying. She fell to the floor and just couldn't find the strength to get back up._

"_**I always! ALWAYS depend on Ino-chan! No matter what, I always need her there… Why am I so WEAK! Why am I so ugly!**" Sakura silently cried. Tears flowed down her face as her face turned pink. _

"_Haha! She's crying guys! Let's make her cry more! I wanna see how much water is stored in that ginormous forehead of hers!" _

"_Stop it." _

_With just two words, Ami and her gang stopped and turned to face the person who just saved Sakura. _

"_Sasuke-kun! W-we were just playing with her!" _

"_With her emotions! Just leave!" _

"_A-Alright!!" Ami and her gang ran off. _

_Sasuke walked up to Sakura and put his hand out to Sakura. _

"_Here, there's dirt on your face." Sasuke handed her a handkerchief with the Uchiha symbol on it. "T-Thank you…" Sakura turned away shyly. _

"_I'm Uchiha Sasuke, it's nice to meet you…" _

"_Sakura, Haruno Sakura."_

"…_Sakura." Sakura was about to hand the handkerchief back but Sasuke stopped her and smiled. _

"_Keep it for now, just make sure you give it back someday, okay?"_

"_Okay." Sasuke started to walk away. _

"_**Oh man, I'm late for training!**" Sasuke thought. _

"_Sasuke-san! T-Thanks!" Sakura yelled out. _

"_Just have more confidence!" Sasuke said while running off. _

"_**More confidence… Right." **_

_(The next day) _

"_Have you heard? I heard Sasuke-kun completely changed today! He looks so sad and lonely! He's really cold now!"_

"_I heard that his parents abandoned him! It would be scary if my parents abandoned me!" _

_Sakura looked around for the Uchiha who saved her hide yesterday. Could the rumors be true? Just then, Sasuke walked in ever so gracefully. He slowly walked to his seat… Way in the corner where no one was at… Sakura walked up to him and said "Sasuke-san, thanks for yesterday, here's you handkerchief if you want it!" Sasuke stared at the Uchiha symbol and gave Sakura a vicious look. _

"_Get out of my face! You're annoying!" This knocked the wind out of Sakura… This was the boy who saved her yesterday! _

"_I-I see…" _

_(Later that day)_

"_Ino-chan! I think I like someone!" _

"_Who?" _

"_Uchiha Sasuke!" Ino gave a look to Sakura. This was her crush! Sakura now was facing the other way, in what looked like, deep thought. _

"_**More confidence… I don't know what happened today Sasuke… but i've learned to have more confidence. I'll keep on learning… learn what happened today- or yesterday, and make you someday smile again like you smiled at me yesterday. I'm willing to save you, because you saved me…"** Sakura thought._

Sakura opened her eyes and found Sasuke sitting the grass across from her. She looked at him curiously as he was facing away from her. He looked deep in thought.

"Sasuke… do you remember… this is silly… but, remember that day you saved me here?" This caught Sasuke's attention as he turned to face her. Sakura was expecting him to say the same thing as that day he left the village.

"Hn. How could I not forget… It was the day… my clan…"

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"I still have that handkerchief…" Sasuke glanced at Sakura once more. She still had it?

"Hn." Sasuke once again turned away from Sakura. Sakura looked at Sasuke, curious at what he was thinking about.

"_Probably Itachi…" Sakura thought_. Sakura sighed as she once again closed her eyes.

"Sakura."

"Yeah?" Sakura asked still swinging with her eyes shut.

"We should get going, we're wasting time." Sakura opened her eyes and got up.

"Right."

Sasuke and Sakura once more started to search for the intruders. Sasuke, strangely, seemed tired… Sasuke is never tired.. Sakura stopped suddenly.

"Sasuke-kun…do you want to rest? I can carry out the mission by myself, you can leave if you're tired."

"Sakura, that's not really an option," Sasuke bluntly replied.

"_Besides, I wouldn't leave you alone at night,_" Sasuke murmered.

"What was that?"

"…"

"Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry but I'm not some weakling. You know that firsthand!" Sakura argued.

Sasuke remembered the incident back at the hideout… Sasuke's head pulsated.

"… There was no need to bring that up. Sakura."

Sakura's angry face turned into a small smirk.

"Ohhh, you're thinking of that time back at the hideout. Haha I see"

"… Sakura. That's enough."

"Haha okay, I'll stop Sasuke-KUN" Sasuke growled then finally let it go. Sakura still was smiling, "_He deserved that blow though… Leaving me and Naruto for THREE years_."

"OI! TEME! SAKURA-CHAN! YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I'VE FOUND!" Sasuke and Sakura cringed. Why was he so goddamn loud at night-err early morning?

"Naruto! I swear if you don't calm down I'll-"

"Looky here! I found it by our training spot!" Naruto stuck out his hand to reveal a small piece of black cloth.

"That could be anyone's though!"

"Nope. It's not an ordinary piece of cloth! It looks like the same cloth the Akatsuki uses."

"Oh, wow. You're right Naruto… Just like Sasori's cloth…"

"…Sasori?"

"Long story short, Chiyo-baa-sama kicked his butt in Suna."

"And you Sakura-chan!"

"Haha, sure. But I wouldn't be able to hold my ground with Sasori by myself. I guess we made a good team against Sasori."

"Anyways, we should go report this to Tsunade-baa-chan."

"Right."

"Hm… you guys are right. It does look like an authentic Akatsuki uniform… I'll look into it. I'm guessing you couldn't find the intruder, correct?"

"No, we didn't."

"It's fine. We found a clue. Anyways, the intruder most likely blended in by now. Probably taking the form of a citizen. Carry on, this mission is done."

Sakura, Sasuke, & Naruto headed out of the office thoroughly exhausted. This "mission" they had was possibly at the worst time of night err... morning. Yes, it is now morning. Birds are chirping while the sun is rising.

"_Well... I better head home and go to bed. Man this mission was horrible! Oh wait, well, I got to spend some time with Sasuke-kun... What am I saying?! I should be trying to get over this guy! He'll never feel the same for me... ((sigh))"_

"Sakura-chan, I'm going home now. I'll see you and teme later!"

"Alright Naruto, hehehe, goodnight."

"You mean good mornnnnnnnning?!" Naruto yelled as he ran off.

Tch. Even at this time he was yelling.

"Sasuke-kun, I better-"

"Sakura. Can you follow me for a bit?"

"Uh... yeah... sure?" Sakura replied somewhat confused.

"_I wonder where we're heading..."_

"We're here."

Sakura looked around for a bit... really confused.

"Sasuke-kun... no offense but we're in the middle of the street... by Ichiraku..."

"Hn. Come in."

Sasuke walked into Ichiraku casually. Woah, woah, woah... what the HECK was going on? Has Sasuke lost it?

"Sasuke-kun I'm so confused right now. What are we doing here?"

"...? Didn't I ask you if you were hungry?"

"... uhm... NO?"

"Oh. Well, since we're here. Let's eat."

Somehow, it looked like Sasuke planned this...

Okay, that was strike two. First, Getting rid of Naruto during the middle-of-the-night mission, and now THIS? What was going on? He _cannot_ have an explanation for this.

"Sasuke-kun, why didn't you "ask" Naruto to come?" Sakura gave Sasuke a more serious and sarcastic face than the other time.

"Hm... well. Naruto was already running off before I could even mutter anything. And second, if Naruto was here, he'd eat all of our ramen. We wouldn't "eat" at all."

"_Those were really good explanations..."_

"Uh... okay. I see..." Sakura said as she sat down awkwardly.

Sakura ordered her usual, and managed to stomach it pretty quickly. It was difficult to match Sasuke's eating speed. After their meals they paid and left Ichiraku in a some sort of hurry. Just as Sakura was about to go her way, but Sasuke once again stopped her...

"Sakura. Can you follow me?"

"Um. Sasuke-kun we already ate..." Sakura sweatdropped.

Sasuke turned away slightly annoyed, "No I mean something else this time."

"Okay. Sure.."

As they were walking, Sakura noticed his face was a little red. A very, very small amount.

"Sasuke-kun... are you feeling well? You're looking kind of pinkish... I could check on you if you want?"

Sasuke quickly jerked his head away from Sakura. What was he up to? Sasuke was acting even more strange than his usual self...

In a while, Sasuke and Sakura arrived to their destination... which was at the Team 7's usual meeting spot; the bridge.

"Sakura.. I brought you here because I have a lot to ask you."

"This is rare... but I'm willing to play along. What do you need to know?"

"I noticed that you are close to the hokage... so I assume that you have seen important documents before, right?"

"Yes, I have."

"Well... have you happen to come across something about the Uchiha Clan?" Sasuke looked at her with a serious face.

"Well... after... you left...i-i sorta... was curious to what you've been saying to me all the past months we've been a team.. I mean, I didn't mean to be like a stalker! I just wanted to find a way to, you know, help you..." Sakura mumbled softly.

"... So you know about my _brother?"_

"..Yes... I know about Itachi..."

Sasuke scowled and looked away. Sakura was feeling really guilty for some reason, she felt like she's been digging through Sasuke's personal past...

"I'm not mad... Sakura. Tell me... Did you happen to find out information about Itachi?"

"Well, I know just a few things... And i've happen to see him before."

"You saw Itachi?"

"Well, it was more like a clone."

"..."

"What I know about him is, he's part of Akatsuki and Kisame's his partner. He was the reason for the ... clan's... massacre... and he's after Naruto."

"...tch. Bastard."

"..."

"Hn... Even when I was at the hideout. I still remembered you guys.. and wondered what Naruto and you were up to." Sasuke changed the subject.

"Well... Naruto left with Jiraiya-sama to train for two and a half years. I stayed here and was an apprentice of Tsunade-sama."

"You were alone?"

"Heh, not that much... I guess. I have Ino-chan and Kakashi-sensei in a way. I had a lot of people to accompany me! I was content.."

"You mouth says that you were content, but your eyes tell me otherwise..."

"..." Sakura looked away from Sasuke and towards the river bank, "Truth be told, I was so lonely. Naruto was gone... Kakashi-sensei... I barely saw him. He was always off to high rank missions. The only times I saw him was at the hospital when he was in critical health... and you, Sasuke. Sasuke-kun, you betrayed the village; us. I felt so hurt inside. I was so lonely and confused... I know you had to leave for your goal, your dream. But do you have any idea what happened to Naruto and me? We were s-so, so destroyed!"

Sakura turned to face Sasuke, now looking tearful. Her face was soft pink and tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Sasuke wanted to look away, in shame, but he couldn't. Her eyes captivated his and he couldn't break away. Sakura looked as though she had been holding these feelings in for years.

"I felt like we were nothing to you... all of those missions and moments together didn't matter. I really, really understand that you had to leave because of your goal. But you had no right to treat us like trash when we met up how many years later! There were so many times... so many nights I cried. I couldn't stop crying, my heart was hurting every single day when you and Naruto were gone. I've never felt so lonely in my life! Even now I feel that same loneliness, even with you and Naruto here! I feel as though we can never be the same again! I feel that no matter how hard we try, it will never be us three as close teammates!"

"Sakura-"

"HOW CAN WE TRUST YOU AGAIN? HOW CAN I TRUST YOU AGAIN?! I've been feeling this way ever since you returned but i've kept quiet. How can I know that you won't betray my home- our home again? ... it's funny how things work out..." Sakura slightly laughed while wiping her tears.

"It's funny how... through all of this anguish I hold inside of me... all of this hurt and negative feelings towards you... I still feel the same way for you as I did three years ago. It's funny how after all these years, I'm still the foolish little 12 year old who fell in love with her popular classmate."

"... What do you mean?"

"GOD DANG IT SASUKE! I still love you! After all these years! I STILL LOVE YOU! I FEEL EVEN STRONGER FOR YOU NOW! And I hate how I'm still the little girl who fell in love with someone who will never love me back!"

Sasuke's face held many different emotions. He looked sad, angry, and confused at what Sakura was saying.

"Sasuke, you will never understand how much I care for you."

"Sakura. Don't assume right away that I don't care about anything. I've cared about you and Naruto all these years. But. Right now, and before, I put my goal first. My goal is the reason I exist. And to accomplish that goal, I'm willing to cast away all my feelings and emotions away."

"..."

"I'm sorry, Sakura..."

"...like hell your sorry Sasuke! I used to be scared of showing you my dark side, but it's about time you learned. I never expected you to love me- even like me. But listen to this, if you ever put Konoha or Naruto in any sort of danger to get your goal... I swear that I won't forgive you. This is your second chance- your last chance to prove your loyalty. Hah, knowing me, I will still love you. But, I will always , always put Konoha first. Don't doubt that Sasuke. Right now, I'll try to do whatever I can to help you achieve your goal. But remember, if you put any of Konoha in danger, I will give my life to help defeat you."

"..."

Sakura was really angry with Sasuke. Sasuke had never seen that side of Sakura before... and he had to admit... it was frightening seeing "cute, little Sakura" threatening him. Sakura turned and walked off. Sasuke was still a bit shocked at what just occurred.

"_..Sakura._" Sasuke thought slightly shaking his head.

* * *

(At night)

"SASUKE!! OPEN UP!!"

Sasuke got up and opened the door. Naruto was standing at the doorway with a huge grin.

"COME ON! LET'S GO TO ICHIRAKU!"

"No."

"Why No-"

SLAM.

Sasuke slammed the door shut as he walked to his bed. He closed his eyes and laid back.

"TEME!! THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY!! SAKURA AND KAKASHI SENSEI ARE ALREADY WAITING THERE. WITHOUT YOU, IT WILL ONLY BE TEAM KAKASHI, NOT TEAM SEVEN!" Naruto yelled through the door.

"I said no."

"COME ON!"

Sasuke didn't reply this time, it was no use arguing with Naruto. He will never back down unless you ignore him.

"PSH. Stay in your room all locked up. See if WE CARE! YEAH. I bet your walls are more exciting than a bowl of Ichiraku ramen. Because they are SO much tastier!" Naruto mumbled as he walked off.

"_Naruto. He's so annoying," Sasuke thought, "Psh. Sakura. What right did she have to yell at me like that! All I did was follow my goal... but I guess she was right about the "trash" part... I feel, kind of mad about how she assumed that I don't care about Konoha and Naruto... and her. Tch, how can she be so blind? The two people I cared most about were Naruto and Sakura. And probably, they are still the only people I actually acknowledge."_

Sasuke huffed and turned to his side, gently falling asleep as he thought of what Sakura said earlier.

...

...

...

* * *

(A/N) Okay, that was kind of hard to write! Sasuke.. is kind of OOC. But it's okay, Sasuke almost always has to be out of character in romance fanfics XD. I didn't leave anyone on a cliffhanger this time, but next time is when things really stir up. Like **hint hint- **someone appears. I've been sort of hinting this at the beginning of the fic (YEAH I really gave it away now...) And just to note... the end it near!! wow I sound like an omen or something XD haha well, i'm predicting this story has about... two to four chapters left. And i'm pretty sure i'll be done with it by September SO keep an eye out :D

lalalagirl


	15. Here With Me

Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of Naruto.

A/N: I've been wanting to update, but 10 unforgettable dates was keeping me from it... I have this thing where if I update one story, the next one I'll update will have to be the other haha. Anyways, the end is near and I hope you guys stay with me until the very end! You guys are awesome!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Here With Me**

It was rainy. Sakura had never seen a thunderstorm this bad before. You couldn't even see a foot in front of where you were standing with that downpour, but Sakura had to go outside anyways. She remembered what Tsunade said to her just three days ago..

"_Sakura, make sure you stay with Naruto at all times... who knows what would happen with Akatsuki hanging around somewhere in the village. If anything is suspicious, just send me a signal and I'll help out. Oh and, Naruto's the top priority right now, so you don't have to guard Sasuke for a while..."_

"_Okay."_

It wasn't that hard to follow that order, considering how she yelled at Sasuke on the same day. Sakura was still fuming at Sasuke, and the truth is... is that she hadn't seen him for about three days. Not once. Not even a glance in the streets. With Kakashi gone on an S ranked mission, you would think she would be worried about what Sasuke might do, but she wasn't.

Sakura finally made it to Naruto's apartment, completely soaked head to toe.

"Naruto! Are you here? Open up!" Sakura called out from the outside.

But all there was... was silence. It was strange, Naruto was always home at this time, and it would not make sense for him to change his mind and run around with this rain. Sakura, worried, opened the door with "her" key that she took from Naruto, and slammed it open.

"NARUTO!" Sakura called out worriedly.

Silence.

Sakura raced into his home, desperately search for her teammate. Where could he have gone? As Sakura searched frantically for any clue of some sort, she failed to have noticed two dark shadows in the corner of Naruto's apartment.

"...Haruno Sakura, is it?"

Sakura stopped right then and there.

"_How could i have not noticed their chakras? They must be skilled."_

"Who are you and what have you done to Naruto?!"

"... I see. You have short term memory..."

Sakura pulsated, but then came to her senses... This voice... was so familiar. It was..!

"Itachi Uchiha, what are you doing in my village?" Sakura knitted her eyebrows.

"Hehehe Itachi! I guess she just needed some sense knocked into her! She remembers us!"

"..."

"Tell me! Why are you here! Are you here for Naruto!? And did you have something to do with him not being here!?"

"... I have no desire to answer your questions. But now that you've seen us, I can't let you go. You'll be coming with us."

"NO WAY IN HELL WOULD I GO WITH YOU!"

"Hahaha, it's not that far! Only to the border is where we'll be going, just to lure someone there!"

"Wha-"

Before Sakura could say a word, she was knocked out.

* * *

(Sasuke POV)

It's been three days. Three whole days. THREE DAYS. 72 hours. What's that i've been counting? The last time I saw Sakura. I don't know why, but it bugs me. Three years ago, she would take every chance she could to see me, now she has the chance to be with me all day, but no. She doesn't even care. Not at all, not even the dobe or Kakashi came to see me. Does the hokage even care?

"Tch. Like I care." I said rolling to the side of the bed.

But, for the past three days... I've realized that I used to take advantage of Sakura. I would not even bat an eyelash towards her even though she showed me so much kindness... even though i've thanked her before I left the village... it still wasn't enough. Hah, and now three days ago I yelled at her when she was emotionally hurt. Am I cold hearted? Am I like ... Itachi? No. There's no way I could ever compare to what Itachi did.

"...Sitting inside all day is not going to help." I told myself. I got up and got dressed to go outside, even with the thick rain. Psh, I'm not scared of getting wet.

I walked down Konoha's empty streets thinking about... Sakura. I could not figure out why I had her stuck in my head for the last 72 hours. Not once, have I drifted from the thought of her. She made me feel... so... so guilty. Maybe, I should apologize... hah, like hell I would. It didn't take me long to realize where I was heading, I wasn't planning on it... but my brain and body were in two different places. I was heading to the gates... to the bench where I left Sakura. As I got closer and closer, I noticed there was a figure stand near the entrance of Konoha. Somewhere deep inside me, I wished it was Sakura... so that I could finally get her out of my head.

But it wasn't. Now I was standing face-to-face with the person. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"...ITACHI!"

I grabbed my Katana and tried to stab him, but it was a waste of time. It was a clone. A million crows erupted from the false Itachi and blocked my view even more.

"SHARINGAN!" I yelled as I desperately tried to find him.

"...Now, now Sasuke. I didn't come here to fight.."

"SHUT UP! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FINALLY AVENGE THE UCHIHA!" I yelled out, trying to find the hidden Itachi. He was nowhere in sight.

"... Listen, foolish little brother... I have a proposition..."

"YOU'RE IN OVER YOUR HEAD! YOU'RE IN MY TERRITORY NOW!"

"Hm... really. I thought you abandoned this village... and now you call it your territory? I heard that you didn't even come here on your own free will."

"Don't be such a coward! Come out and fight me to the death!" I shouted.

"Well... let me just say this then... I have one of your former teammates in my hands... I don't think you're in any condition to be threatening me."

"What are you talking about?! You have Naruto!?"

"Ahh... close. More like the pink kunoichi..."

"Sakura?! What do you want with her?!"

"...I've noticed that you've gotten certainly close with this kunoichi... so I'll give you a choice..." Itachi walked out from behind the trees.

I was about to attack when Itachi stopped me.

"I'm not the real one, the real me is just outside of Konoha... Like I was saying, I'll give you a choice. Choose to fight me, become a traitor once again, live in solitude, ... and let that kunoichi die."

"The real you has Sakura?"

"Not quite... more like Kisame. They are by the Hokage's faces... Choose to go to them, and I'll let you and the kunoichi live at the cost of your revenge... or choose to fight me."

"Why are you doing this!?" I shouted.

"... It's something that you'll never understand and know. Now choose! The kunoichi, the village, and possibly your live, or your revenge!"

I thought. I thought long and hard. It was the first time in a while that I thought so hard. I was... confused, so confused.

"I... I don't know!"

"Foolish little brother! What's the obvious best choice right now! Look at the situation you're in! Another life might be lost because of your selfishness!"

"SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME ABOUT DEATH, YOU SCUM! NO, YOU'RE WORST THEN SCUM!"

Itachi stayed silent then finally murmered, "Choose me... or the kunoichi."

My head hurt from indecisiveness...i didn't know what to do. After about a good five minutes... I made up my mind, I surprised myself with my decision.

"I'm going... to kill you!"

Itachi glared at me.

"Foolish-"

"...but not now. Don't get me wrong, one day, you'll be dead. So don't count your blessings!" I shouted as I threw a kunai at the clone, making it disperse into crows once again. After that was done, I headed to Sakura.

(End Sasuke pov)

Far off in the distance, at the border of Konoha, was Itachi. He muttered something very faint, but it could still be heard.

"...Wise choice, little brother."

* * *

(With Sakura)

"I'll defeat you! I won't let you get away with taking Naruto!" Sakura shouted in fury.

"Hahaha! Whoever said we took Naruto? It's not the time for the Kyuubi, Itachi and I came here on a whim, more like his whim!" Kisame roared in laughter.

"That doesn't make sense! Why would he bother to show his face to the village he betrayed?!" Sakura yelled.

"Stop being so loud, Kunoichi, or I'll really kill you!" Kisame warned as he smirked.

Sakura shivered at his cold smile, it was evil, pure evil. She quickly recovered and made her way to Kisame with her fist filled with chakra.

"Hah! That's naive! You really think you can hurt me? Silly, weak, PATHETIC, Kunoichi!" Kisame taunted.

Sakura missed by a mile, Kisame dodged her attacks with ease.

"Come on! Is that all you've got? You're no fun to toy with!" Kisame taunted Sakura even more.

Eventually, Kisame found an opening, and pinned Sakura to the floor.

"Silly Kunoichi, you have no power against me! Maybe I should really just have fun with you, seeing that his little brother chose to choose revenge!" Kisame licked his lips.

"S-Sasuke... what? What does Sasuke-kun have to do with this?!" Sakura shuddered in his grasp.

"...Itachi came here to test Sasuke, to see if he would choose this village and you, or revenge. But I guess in the end, he chose revenge. Hah, he can't even kill Itachi with his strength right now! What a stupid fool! Bahahaha!" Kisame laughed.

"_Sasuke... is this true? I-I can't believe it... He chose to leave again... and this time there's no telling he'll stay alive. And as of me...i think this guy might kill me... or worse, rape me. Oh Sasuke, I really wish this isn't true! Even though I yelled at you a few days back... I didn't actually believe that you were so cold hearted that you would do this to me and Naruto again... I want to believe that this isn't true... but I can tell this guy's not lying." _Sakura thought.

"Give it up Kunoichi! The guy's not coming for you! Stop struggling!"

"_Once again, I'm too weak to protect myself..." _Sakura thought.

"Why am I so weak!" Sakura shouted.

And just then, as if on cue, Kisame was thrown off of Sakura. Her savior? None other than her favorite chicken butt.

"S-Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn. You are weak," Sasuke had his back towards Sakura, "...that's why. I'll always be there to protect you..."

Sasuke turned to a wide-eyed Sakura.

"Sasuke..kun.."

"I've been thinking... for the past three days... In the past I chose revenge, but I don't regret that. But, when revenge flashed before my eyes again, i've realized that...i need Konoha, Naruto... and you more than that. I need you Sakura, more than my revenge. You are a reason for my existence now... more so than revenge."

"Sasuke-kun... what are you saying..?"

"I didn't know before we argued three days ago, but I know now. Itachi wants me to suffer, to choose revenge... but that's what he wants. I want... to be happy with you... I don't even know how to say this... but. After that argument... I realized that you make me happy. You make me feel more emotions than anyone could possibly try to make me feel. Sakura, whenever I'm with you, I feel so strange. At times I'm happy... or sad, or mad at you. But one emotion never changes..."

"Sasuke-kun..."

"..I think I... might.. love you, Haruno Sakura." Sasuke stared deeply into Sakura's light green eyes. His stare was piercing, but... at the same time... comforting.

Sakura couldn't believe her ears... did she hear this right? Did he just say what she think she heard?

"Sasuke... this has no... bullshit in it right?"

"Sakura. You know me better than that."

Sakura felt her eyes water. She was so... happy.

"Sasuke-kun... I love you as well... never stopped. Not once." Sakura felt her knees giving in.

Sasuke walked over to Sakura and embraced her. He felt her hiccuping from tears and felt her shake from the coldness of the rain. Sasuke closed in to her ear and whispered,

"Sakura... I need you... here with me."

"I'll always be with you, Sasuke-kun. No matter what..." Sakura smiled as she hugged Sasuke back.

Kisame watched this scene in interest, "Hm, so he chose the kunoichi? Wow, she must be some girl.." With that said, Kisame retreated and headed to Itachi.

"So... what now Sasuke-kun? What are we going to do...?" Sakura asked with a huge smile on her face.

Sasuke took her hand in his and said bluntly, "Let's go find that dobe... I have to beat him up... and while I'm at it...thank him."

( Konoha's gates)

"Itachi, what was this _really_ about?" Kisame asked slightly curious.

"I wanted him to choose the right path for once... and he did." Itachi said.

"Heh, who knew you were a big softie Itachi! Bwahahaha!" Kisame chuckled.

Itachi just smirked as he walked to the horizon with Kisame by his side.

* * *

WOW. It's almost over! One more chapter left guys! I didn't really plan for this all to happen in one chapter, but I just had a gut feeling to leave it as it is. The epilogue is next, it's going to show what happens three years later (LOL, I used three a lot in this chapter XD). Sasuke is OOC but also in character in this chapter XD. I'm so happy for Sakura sniff, sniff XD. I hope you guys liked it! Review and watch for the epilogue! I'm going to write it as soon as I'm done writing this... so it'll be up veryyy soon! Even before 10 Unforgettable dates chapter 7XD haha! Sasusaku forever!!

lalalagirl


	16. With Every Ending Comes a New Beginning

Disclaimer: You would think by the 16th chapter/Epilogue that you would know I don't own Naruto... well I'll say it for the LAST time in Here With Me. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. XD

A/N: Aw... this is kind of sad... the last chapter. I actually read all of the other chapters yesterday... and well... I still am a noob at writing, but I've gotten a hell of a lot better :) I'm proud of that I guess. It's sad saying goodbye to what got me writing fanfics in the first place... but yeah, all things come to an end. To avoid confusion... Itachi was good in the last chapter...why? Just go read the manga, you'll find your answer w/o me spoiling too much :). Oh! Before I go ... I have to note that... at the beginning of this fanfic, I loved Sasusaku A LOT. But after recent chapters and episodes, part of me is rooting for Narusaku I know, I know some of you may think i've gone to the "dark side"... but I can't help what I like and don't like XD.

* * *

**Epilogue: With Every Ending Comes a New Beginning.**

(Naruto POV)

"Ring, ring"

"..."

"Ring, RING!"

"Huh... what? What time... is... OH SHIT!" I yelled.

I got up as fast as I can while trying the unscramble my thoughts.

"Oh my god. The wedding is in twenty minutes! Sakura-chan's going to KILL me!!" I mentally slapped myself.

I ran into the bathroom and tried to make myself look the best I could. After just two minutes of running my hand through my hair, I went into my closet and pulled out a black tuxedo. I shoved it on and ran out of the door, not even caring I didn't have my daily breakfast ramen.

I ran down Konoha like a bullet. I HAD to be there now! I had just five minutes until Sakura-chan walked down the aisle. I kept on running faster and faster.

"_Come on! Just a little bit more and I'll... aha! I'm here!" _I cheered to myself.

I slammed the doors open and saw many pairs of eyes widen at me. I made my way down the aisle, right next to Sasuke-teme.

"You're late, dobe." Sasuke slightly glared.

"I know, teme!" I smirked back at Sasuke-teme.

Just then, the doors flew open once again... and what I saw was an angel. An angel sent from above. Sakura-chan... was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen at that point. My jaws literally dropped and Sakura walked down the aisle way with her father at hand. Her hair was put up loosely in a bun and two strands of hair fell to her angelic face on each side. Her dress was breathtaking as well. It was strapless and was long. She looked so classy and beautiful... I was stunned. As a child she was really cute, and as a teenager she was pretty and hot. But now, she is beautiful and mature.

However, I knew she could never be mine. Even though this reality hurt me a bit... I was happy for teme and Sakura-chan. Sakura loved him, and he loved her. I could never break apart two of my best friends' hearts...

(A few days later)

Teme and Sakura-chan now live together... Maybe I should leave them a surprise in their house before they get back from their honeymoon. Haha that'll be funny... but then... Sakura would punch the life out of me... She's so strong now.

I sighed as I sat down at my desk. My new life as hokage is tough, but I guess it's worth it. I shouldn't complain for Kakashi-sensei's sake.. I hope you're resting in peace, Kakashi-sensei.

A lot has happened since the day I found out about Sasuke and Sakura dating... A lot of sadness. Ero sannin and Tsunade baa-chan passed away. It turned out there was one other remaining Akatsuki member other than Itachi and Kisame and it was Pein. Pein had seven bodies to defeat... it took us six bodies to realize that the real one was hidden away. At the cost of their lives, they defeated Pein once and for all. Kakashi sensei passed away just a month ago, the cause of his death was unknown. Even though his reign was short, Kakashi-sensei was a good hokage.

As the seventh hokage, I have a lot of respect now. I love being Hokage but it brings ups and downs. I have the power to protect the ones I care about now... now, I'll be careful and make sure no harm comes to my friends' way. It's a promise of my lifetime.

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( the land of waves)

"Sasuke-kun! While we're here... don't you think we should visit Inari and Kazuna and Tsunami... and Sai... and Narihime... an-" Sakura said in sing song voice

"Sakura. We are here right now for us, we'll see them later," Sasuke stated with his eyes shut.

"Oh some things never change... Sasuke-kun, it's our honeymoon! Lighten up! When we return to Konoha, we'll be swamped with missions!" Sakura huffed.

"Okay... Fine..." Sasuke slightly pouted.

"You make me want to be a better person, Sakura." Sasuke said as he looked straight into Sakura's eyes.

"...That's too clique Sasuke-kun! Haha I don't believe you for one second!" Sakura chuckled.

"But I'm serious."

"You're a bad liar Sasuke, believe it or not," Sakura teased.

"...Fine. I like you, really really like you. Happy?"

"Hehe That's my boy!" Sakura happily said.

It's been three years since they last saw Itachi. It was untrue to say that Sasuke didn't care, oh he did. It's rumored that Itachi died at some point, in an abandoned place... by himself. Although, Kisame is spotted here and there. He doesn't do anything bad.. except kill people who bug him. So it is speculated that no one is ever going to be able to figure out exactly what happened to Itachi. Sasuke and Sakura went steady for about two years when chicke- I mean Sasuke FINALLY decided to propose to her. For those two years, nothing teared them apart. They were almost always together, it was a wonder why Sasuke didn't propose just a month after dating. But Sakura knew the real reason... Sasuke wanted her to enjoy her years as a teenager without having the burden of being married to someone, even if it was to someone she loved.

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(One month later)

"S-Sasuke-kun! Come here.!" Sakura called.

"...What's wrong Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he ran in the bathroom.

"um... I have something to tell you..." Sakura said while shifting her eyes.

"...? Yeah, what's that?" Sasuke blinked.

"I-I'm... pregnant!" Sakura shouted ecstatically while jumping onto Sasuke.

"Seriously?" Sasuke blinked once more.

"Yup!!"

"That's... great!!" Sasuke celebrated.

"Wait, let me go call Ino! She'll be so excited! Now our babies can play with each other!" Sakura said.

"You're going to let our kid play with Shikamaru's son? She or he might pick up bad habits..." Sasuke said while eying Sakura.

"Don't be silly! (Gasp). What if our child is a girl? THEN! Ino's son and my daughter might like each other... then they might get married someday! It's that great?!" Sakura said with stars in her eyes.

"...(Sigh) you're annoying..." Sasuke said bluntly.

"Not that again, Sasuke-kun!"

"... but you're mine." Sasuke said with a smirk. With that, Sasuke grabbed Sakura's waist and pulled her close.

"So... after this kid.. how many more do you want?" Sasuke smirked.

"Oh... just about three more," Sakura deviously smiled.

"I think I can arrange that..."

* * *

That was pretty short for an epilogue XD but all that I've wanted to say, has been said! :D It's great to finally be finished with Here With Me! If you hadn't noticed... all the couplings in the end are: Sasusaku Naruto by himself :O Shikaino and NariSai. Great isn't it! I had a weird ride through this fic, but a fun one. There were times where I wanted to quit this story, but some of the reviews just made me more determined to write more! I was thinking of rewriting it... but I thought about it and I concluded that... this story shows just how much better I got at writing, why would I destroy that? Anyways, thank you all for those who review, everyone who criticized me! It really helped a lot, even though it "hurt" at the time. It was awesome getting better and better :)Thanks to all of those who faved & alerted :) Again, thank you all so much! It really meant a lot! And maybe... I'll see you guys again in one of my different fanfics :) Hope you guys have a GREAT day! :D

_LOVE!!_

_lalalagirl (55 XD)_


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